Untitled (Fang, Crow and Fruit) 1945

Beauford Delaney painted this untitled painting from 1945 with what looks like oil on some kind of board. It's all kind of a warm reddish-orange, but there are these bright pops of yellow in the fruit and that wild blue rim around the bowl. I love how the paint is so alive here. It feels like Delaney wasn’t trying to hide his process at all. You can see every brushstroke, thick and juicy, especially in the little statue-like figure on the right. It’s like he’s building up the form with these frantic dabs of color, from deep greens to hot yellows, that feel both urgent and playful. Look at how the crow or bird is so energized, like it’s caught mid-flight, a whirlwind of feathers and movement. Delaney's painting reminds me of Marsden Hartley, with that same love for color and a kind of raw, expressive touch. Both artists let their paintings be open-ended, inviting us to see and feel our way through them.