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Beauford Delaney
(1901 - 1979)
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 Amazing
Grace : A Life of Beauford Delaney by David Adams
Leeming
On the
surface, Amazing Grace seems like an odd title for a
biography of a man plagued by social and psychological problems
for most of his life before dying in a French insane asylum. Yet
in a way, the life of painter Beauford Delaney was
strangely blessed. Start with the talent that carried him out of
the segregated South of his birth and into the more artistically
stimulating milieus of Boston, New York, and Paris; add to that
his roster of friends and influences, including such luminaries as
James
Baldwin, Henry
Miller, and Alfred
Stieglitz, and it becomes clear that Beauford Delaney was
indeed graced with a remarkable life. In Amazing Grace,
biographer David Leeming has written a sensitive and perceptive
account of his subject's troubled life and memorable paintings.
Leeming's book is the portrait of a singular
man, but it is also a chronicle of an extraordinary time in
history: the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing, socialism was
fashionable, and people were beginning to "get" Picasso.
Against this backdrop of artistic and social experimentation,
Leeming deftly describes Delaney's conflicting attitudes about
race, class, and his own sexuality. Though the artist's ultimate
fate was a tragic one, there is much to celebrate about his life,
and David Leeming has done an exemplary job of shedding light on
Delaney and the times in which he lived.
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By Adams Leeming
Excerpt:
Beauford Delaney's early life was dominated by
the powerful figure of his mother, Delia Johnson Delaney, a
strict, proud woman who upheld what she saw as the Christian
virtues. She punctuated lessons on forbearance, patience,
self-control, and turning the other cheek with songs. In later
life Beauford often talked of and sang the songs she taught him:
"My Good Lord Done Been Here Blest My Soul and Gone
Away" was one, along with the more traditional spirituals and
the ever popular "Amazing Grace" that became Beauford's
favorite hymn. His mother and he especially liked the verse that
reads: "Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have
already come; 'tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace
will lead me home." And there were secular lyrics such as
"She never told her love, but let concealment feed on her
damask cheek . . . smiling, smiling at grief." From the 1930s
these and words like them are copied out over and over in
Beauford's journals as if they had the power, through connection
with his mother's strength, to ward off the inner voices that in
the early years only teased him but later gradually took over his
mind...
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Excerpt:
Beauford Delaney was born in Knoxville,
Tennessee in 1901. He and his younger brother, Joseph, born 1904,
both started out drawing at an early age. Beauford moved to
Boston, Massachusetts when he was a teenager. He studied at the
Massachusetts Normal Art School, the South Boston School of Art,
and the Copley Society. Beauford lived an unsettling life as an
artist and was in constant need of funds to continue his work and
studies. Beauford was known for his commanding high spirit and
charm. He therefore attracted lots of friends and patrons willing
to support his free spirit as an expressive artist. Beauford
managed to meet, sketch, or paint a host of celebrities. By 1929,
Beauford had moved to Harlem, New York. The Harlem Renaissance was
in full bloom. Beauford got to know Countee Cullen, W.E.B. Dubois,
Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Henry Miller and
James Baldwin, to name a few...
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by Sam Yates, Director, © 1986 Ewing
Gallery
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Excerpt:
Joseph Delaney was an all-American artist. He
remained steadfast to an honest portrayal of the human condition
devoid of political rhetoric and always gently human in his
observations. Recognized, but never celebrated, this genuine
American artist deserves more clearly an established identity in
the history of American art...
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Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
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