Untitled (Yellow, Red, and Black Circles for James Baldwin, Istanbul) 1966

Beauford Delaney, somewhere, sometime, made this painting with—I’m guessing—gouache or maybe thinned acrylic, given its luminous, watery feel. The marks are pretty simple: circles of yellow, red, and black layered and nestled, then linked by a looping gesture. The paint is thin and juicy, like watercolor, allowing the white of the paper to glow through. I can see him, turning the paper, letting the paint drip and pool. Was he thinking of jazz? Kandinsky? Knowing Delaney made it for James Baldwin in Istanbul makes me think these forms are all about connection and movement, like a portrait of thoughts circling, never quite touching, always in motion. The black looping line binds the circles into a constellation of color, a map of feeling. Artists are always in conversation, a visual call and response. That loop echoes, for me, de Kooning’s biomorphic shapes, or maybe even Miro’s playful lines. It’s all one big, beautiful exchange.