Lot Essay
Nous remercions Sylvain Briet pour les informations qu'il nous a communiquées sur l'œuvre.
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Church Tower
Details
Beauford Delaney (1901-1979)
Church Tower
signé et daté ‘Beauford Delaney 1971’ (en bas à droite)
huile sur toile
55 x 55 cm.
Peint en 1971.
signed and dated ‘Beauford Delaney 1971’ (lower right)
oil on canvas
21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.
Painted in 1971.
Church Tower
signé et daté ‘Beauford Delaney 1971’ (en bas à droite)
huile sur toile
55 x 55 cm.
Peint en 1971.
signed and dated ‘Beauford Delaney 1971’ (lower right)
oil on canvas
21 5/8 x 21 5/8 in.
Painted in 1971.
Provenance
Philippe Briet Gallery, New York
Acquis auprès de celle-ci par le propriétaire actuel
Acquis auprès de celle-ci par le propriétaire actuel
Exhibited
New York, Philippe Briet Gallery, Beauford Delaney: A retrospective: [50 years of light], février-mars 1991.
Further Details
“Church Tower” correspond à la troisième et dernière période créative (1965-1973) de Beauford Delaney. Son titre a été donné par Joseph Delaney, frère du peintre. Avant de s’établir en France, Beauford Delaney a produit à New York une œuvre importante dont l’expressionnisme n’est pas sans rappeler Van Gogh, Cézanne et Matisse qu’il admirait, marquée par l’énergie de la métropole où il vécu vingt-quatre ans. Installé à Paris en 1953, l’abstraction fit alors une large incursion dans son œuvre (1954-1965), le thème du portrait, cependant, jamais abandonné depuis sa période américaine, s’affirmant d’avantage ; il revint aux natures mortes et vers 1970 à de rares paysages urbains réminiscents de ses années à Manhattan. Pour le galeriste Philippe Briet (1959-1997), qui dès 1988 contribua à remettre à la lumière l’oeuvre de Beauford Delaney, Church Tower est clairement une allusion aux agissements du Ku Klux Klan. Expatrié depuis 1953, Beauford Delaney n’en restait pas moins concerné par le mouvement pour l’égalité des droits civiques aux États-Unis, contesté par le Klan. Il tenait certainement à manifester à travers cette œuvre son indignation, avec subtilité, afin de ne pas répondre à la violence par la violence, son arme le pinceau étant chargée ici de beaucoup de poésie. Ce regard poignant semble vouloir dire Pourquoi, pourquoi tant de haine?” au nom de la religion (symbolisée par la petite croix). La notion de Race était un sujet sensible pour Beauford Delaney, un thème qui a nourri plusieurs œuvres dont “All The Races”, une gouache datée de 1970. Que l’on regarde son œuvre en pensant à sa couleur de peau mettait à mal Beauford Delaney. Il souhaitait qu’on regarde sa peinture, sa peinture uniquement. Sur ce sujet, le 5 novembre 1963 le peintre Charley Boggs transcrivit ses propos : “En tout état de cause, en tant que peintre, il préfère rester anonyme quand on en vient à sa couleur” (In any event, as painter, he prefers to remain anonymous when it comes to his color). En 1970, peu avant “Church Tower“, Delaney rendait hommage à Rosa Parks,
militante du mouvement afro-américain contre la ségrégation raciale, à travers deux tableaux. La présentant assise sur un banc, il intitule l’un d’eux “She ain’t getting up, Mrs Parks” (Elle ne va pas se lever, Mme. Parks), apportant une note d’humour inattendue. La maison Christie’s est fière de présenter Church Tower, un des rares tableaux où Beauford Delaney a exprimé son émotion face à un des événements les plus marquants de l’actualité américaine du XXè siècle.
Church Tower corresponds to Beauford Delaney’s third and last creative period (1965-1973). Its title was given by Joseph Delaney, the painter’s brother.
Before settling in France, Beauford Delaney produced important work in New York in the Expressionist style, reminiscent of Van Gogh, Cézanne and Matisse whom he admired, influenced by the energy of the metropolis where he lived for twenty-four years. Moving to Paris in 1953, abstraction constituted a broad incursion into his oeuvre during this time (1954-1965), although the theme of the portrait, never having been abandoned since his American period, further asserted itself. He returned to still-life arrangements and, around 1970, to rare urban landscapes recalling his years in Manhattan.
For the gallerist Philippe Briet (1959-1997), who since 1988 had helped to bring Beauford Delaney’s body of work back into the spotlight, Church Tower is clearly an allusion to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite leaving his home country in 1953, Beauford Delaney nevertheless remained concerned by the civil rights movement in the United States, opposed by the Klan. He certainly wished to demonstrate his indignation, subtly, through this work, in order not to respond to violence with violence: his weapon, the brush, is laden with a great sense of poetry here. This poignant gaze appears to beg the question “Why, why so much hate?” in the name of religion (symbolised by the small cross). The concept of race was a sensitive subject for Beauford Delaney, a theme that nurtured several of his works, such as All the Races, a gouache dating from 1970. Whether one looked at his work whilst thinking of the colour of his skin made Beauford Delaney ill at ease: he wanted us to look at his painting, and only his painting. On this subject, on 5 November 1963, the painter Charley Boggs jotted his remarks: “In any event, as painter, he prefers to remain anonymous when it comes to his color.” In 1970, shortly before Church Tower, Delaney paid homage to Rosa Parks, the activist in the Afro-American movement against racial segregation, through two paintings. Presenting her seated on a bench, he entitled one of these She Ain’t Getting Up, Mrs Parks, bringing an unexpected element of humour. Church Tower, one of the rare paintings where Beauford Delaney expressed his emotional reaction when confronted with one of the most significant 20th century American events.
© Sylvain Briet, mai 2019.
militante du mouvement afro-américain contre la ségrégation raciale, à travers deux tableaux. La présentant assise sur un banc, il intitule l’un d’eux “She ain’t getting up, Mrs Parks” (Elle ne va pas se lever, Mme. Parks), apportant une note d’humour inattendue. La maison Christie’s est fière de présenter Church Tower, un des rares tableaux où Beauford Delaney a exprimé son émotion face à un des événements les plus marquants de l’actualité américaine du XXè siècle.
Church Tower corresponds to Beauford Delaney’s third and last creative period (1965-1973). Its title was given by Joseph Delaney, the painter’s brother.
Before settling in France, Beauford Delaney produced important work in New York in the Expressionist style, reminiscent of Van Gogh, Cézanne and Matisse whom he admired, influenced by the energy of the metropolis where he lived for twenty-four years. Moving to Paris in 1953, abstraction constituted a broad incursion into his oeuvre during this time (1954-1965), although the theme of the portrait, never having been abandoned since his American period, further asserted itself. He returned to still-life arrangements and, around 1970, to rare urban landscapes recalling his years in Manhattan.
For the gallerist Philippe Briet (1959-1997), who since 1988 had helped to bring Beauford Delaney’s body of work back into the spotlight, Church Tower is clearly an allusion to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite leaving his home country in 1953, Beauford Delaney nevertheless remained concerned by the civil rights movement in the United States, opposed by the Klan. He certainly wished to demonstrate his indignation, subtly, through this work, in order not to respond to violence with violence: his weapon, the brush, is laden with a great sense of poetry here. This poignant gaze appears to beg the question “Why, why so much hate?” in the name of religion (symbolised by the small cross). The concept of race was a sensitive subject for Beauford Delaney, a theme that nurtured several of his works, such as All the Races, a gouache dating from 1970. Whether one looked at his work whilst thinking of the colour of his skin made Beauford Delaney ill at ease: he wanted us to look at his painting, and only his painting. On this subject, on 5 November 1963, the painter Charley Boggs jotted his remarks: “In any event, as painter, he prefers to remain anonymous when it comes to his color.” In 1970, shortly before Church Tower, Delaney paid homage to Rosa Parks, the activist in the Afro-American movement against racial segregation, through two paintings. Presenting her seated on a bench, he entitled one of these She Ain’t Getting Up, Mrs Parks, bringing an unexpected element of humour. Church Tower, one of the rare paintings where Beauford Delaney expressed his emotional reaction when confronted with one of the most significant 20th century American events.
© Sylvain Briet, mai 2019.
Brought to you by
Etienne Sallon