Untitled 1947

This untitled painting by Beauford Delaney is all about the process. You can see how he’s built up the surface with thick strokes of oil paint, almost like frosting a cake! Delaney uses these colors so boldly, like Fauvist Matisse. Take the central eye motif, ringed with yellow and black, centered with swirls of green and white, it's as if he’s inviting us to really *look* at the world, and at ourselves. The paint is applied so thickly that it almost becomes sculptural, creating a tactile surface that begs to be touched. The white dove against the light blue is a little like early Mondrian, it's the kind of art that embraces ambiguity, a space for feeling and possibility. It's a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation.