Untitled 1946

This is an untitled pastel on paper by Beauford Delaney. Delaney’s work is concerned with an abstract sense of form as it is revealed by light, but it is also an art that speaks to his experience as a Black man in twentieth century America. In that sense, his works are inherently political. This image creates meaning through its use of vibrant color and swirling forms. Delaney created it at a time when American society was deeply segregated. In the mid-twentieth century, the formal aspects of art were often regarded as separate from social realities. But for artists of color, abstraction was a strategic and even subversive choice. Figures like Delaney used the language of modernism to explore identity and experience in ways that resisted easy categorization by the art establishment. Historians look at period publications, gallery owner correspondence, and even census records to better understand how a work such as this engages with the institutions of art and the politics of its time. Ultimately, it's in these details that the art historical meaning of such an artwork can be found.