James Baldwin 1963

Beauford Delaney made this portrait of James Baldwin with oil on canvas. I can imagine him, brush in hand, building up the surface in layers. Delaney's yellow palette feels like an embrace. The portrait shimmers with strokes of ochre, cadmium, and lemon. Look at the way he’s modeled Baldwin’s face with short, choppy marks. The paint seems almost scrubbed into the canvas, creating a textured surface that vibrates with energy. His eyes are wide and expressive, drawing you into his gaze. It reminds me of other portraits Delaney made of his friends in the art and literary scene. There’s a conversation happening between these paintings, a sharing of ideas and approaches. Painting, in the end, is just a really beautiful kind of conversation, a way of thinking through doing, and a way of seeing each other.