Charles Alston (1907 - 1977)

Charles Henry Alston, born in Charleston, South Carolina, was an illustrator, painter, muralist, sculptor, as well as a teacher, mentor, and organizer. As a child, Alston spent a great deal of time in North Carolina, where he cultivated an interest in the arts, sculpting forms from the red clay that surrounded him there. His curiosity carried over into his academic studies; he enrolled in art classes while obtaining his bachelor’s degree at Columbia University. Alston had a strong dedication to teaching and advising to support young generations and address the barriers that black artists faced in the mainstream art world. Alston returned to Teachers College at Columbia in 1929, and his passion for mentorship led to a fruitful career as a professor; he was the first African American instructor at the Art Student League, the first African American supervisor in the Work Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Art Project (FAP), an instructor at Pennsylvania State University, and later an associate professor in painting at the City University of New York. Aside from teaching, Alston dabbled in all sectors of art, from working as a muralist for the WPA during the Great Depression to creating commercial art such as advertisements, record covers, and cartoons. Alston’s works gained recognition in the 1950s, when one of his paintings was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Afterward, he landed several exhibitions at major galleries and institutions across the United States and became the first African American instructor at the Museum of Modern Art.

ainted with a low concentrated color palette, Charles Alston's Title Unknown is a small painting showing an abstracted figure’s head. The figure’s facial feature is simply delineated by thin lines of black paint, outlining the basic form of the head. The colors are composed of various reds, greens, grays, and many other colors combined. When examining the painting in close observation, hints of bright color patches appear underneath the top layer, bringing vitality to the painted surface.

Provenance Private Collection

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Beauford Delaney, born in 1901 in Knoxville, Tennessee, is remembered for his involvement in Harlem Renaissance and his later development in abstract expressionism. Delaney’s father is a respectable minister, and his mother, born as a slave who taught reading and writing on her own, recognized the importance of education for future generations in the racist society. Delaney received his art training with techniques and skills from Massachusetts Normal School, the South Boston School of Art, and the Copley Society. Around the 1940s, Delaney moved to New York City, where he participated among other African American artists in the Harlem Renaissance. During these years, he painted many pastel portraits of well-known African American figures including W.E.B. Du Bois and Duke Ellington. Like many artists in New York at the time, the social gathering that outcasted African Americans in society slowly transformed Delaney to follow his passion after abstraction. He developed a lyrically expressive style that follows his love of music and the bold experimentation of color. In Delaney’s abstraction, one can find the strong energy associated with the use of sharp pure color.

Through the layers of yellow and white oil paints, Composition, 1961 narratives a mellow but intense melody through the waves of the oil paints. Layers of yellow paint fill the edges of the canvas with a vertically draped white brush stroke in the middle. In the center of the canvas is a bold and forceful touch of yellow paint, where both the center and the edges slowly merge with the white paint. While the two-dimensional horizontal spread of the paint covers the entire surface and offers an intense impression of the work, its three-dimensional development extending into the space shows the fluidity of the material as if it was frozen in time. Although it is an abstract painting, the surface texture provides the history of its action; therefore, providing a narrative for the audiences to reimagine the space and the time Delaney was at when it was created.

Composition, 1961

Oil on Canvas

5 ½ in. x 7 ⅛ in. (14 x 18.1 cm)

Signed on Back: Beauford Delaney

Provenance Private Collection

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Bright pastel yellow oil paints surrounding pieces of white brush strokes, Beauford Delaney’s later abstract paintings show a lyrical expression. The densely applied yellow oils swirl and move on the surface plane, while leaving a breathing space between the forceful heavy white shapes. Composition is a delicate oil on canvas painting that is not only painted through the two-dimensional surface but also extends into the space with depth through the layers of the paints. Although tiny in size, the energy is revealed through the traces of action done in the painting process.

Composition

Oil on Canvas

10 ⅝ x 51/4 in. (27 x 13.3 cm)

Signed on Back: Beauford Delaney

Provenance Private Collection

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Credits

Gallery Owner Bill Hodges

Gallery Director Navindren Hodges

Gallery Manager Irene Ross

Gallery Registrar Angel Hurtado

Research Asssistant Qiang Hu