Portrait of James Baldwin 1965

What can portraits tell us about the person they seek to represent? 🔎🎨 The modernist painter Beauford Delaney (1901-1979) created twelve works depicting the American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin (1924-1987). In this 1965 portrait, the artist uses a colour palette dominated by bold and luminous yellow. This vibrant and optimistic shade has been applied in thick layers to build three-dimensional texture – a technique known as ‘impasto’. Here, the impasto builds a sense of energy and life. Baldwin is shown as an intense and commanding presence, as reinforced by his direct eye contact with the viewer. 👁️ During the 1930s and 1940s, Beauford Delaney was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance. This movement sought to celebrate African-American culture and ‘Black excellence’. Although Baldwin belonged to the generation emerging after the pinnacle of the Harlem Renaissance, Delaney’s choice to paint his portrait is significant. As an accomplished poet, playwriter, and author, Baldwin was a hugely influential public figure during the civil rights movements and gay liberation movements of the United States in the mid-twentieth century. 🇺🇸 ‘Portrait of James Baldwin’ (1965) blends styles of art to achieve an interesting, experimental, and striking image. The painting is at once abstract and representational. The use of such an intensely coloured background is unconventional in traditional portraiture. Delaney’s choice to depict Baldwin in a yellow suit and tie allows the sitter’s body to merge with the background; it becomes difficult to decide where Baldwin ends and the background starts. The focus is on Baldwin’s face alone, suggesting the importance of his identity. This is a bold statement against racial discrimination. ✊ If you had to choose a colour to represent your own personality, which would it be? 👇💭 Editor: Lucy Jude Grantham