Portrait of James Baldwin 1957

Beauford Delaney captured James Baldwin in oil, with an expressionistic fervor that seems to bubble with feeling. The painting is a flurry of pastel pinks and blues, swirling around Baldwin like a dream. The brushstrokes are thick and juicy, building up a surface that's alive with texture. I can imagine Delaney standing before the canvas, wrestling with the paint, trying to capture the essence of Baldwin's spirit, the way he moved through the world. There’s a tension in his face, a seriousness, but also a kind of vulnerability, which the strokes really convey. He’s got this piercing gaze that suggests he's really thinking. Delaney was part of a whole community of artists who were constantly pushing the boundaries of what painting could do, so in this way, he’s very much like me. Each brushstroke is a little question, a little experiment, a little leap of faith.