Portrait of a Bearded Young Man Reading 1972

Beauford Delaney made this ‘Portrait of a Bearded Young Man Reading’ with paint, sometime during his career. It’s the color that grabs you first, right? The way the yellow of the book just pops against the blues and greens, like a little sunbeam. Delaney wasn't afraid to let the paint do its thing, you can see all the brushstrokes, how he layered the colors to create depth. Look closely at the shirt. See how the blue is mixed with touches of yellow and white? It’s almost like he’s painting light itself. There’s something so immediate about it, so full of feeling. That little touch of red on the collar, is like a hidden spark. Delaney, like Van Gogh, was interested in the spiritual possibilities of paint. Both understood how the simple act of putting brush to canvas could be a way of reaching for something beyond words. It’s this kind of searching that makes art so interesting, so open to interpretation.