Portrait of James Baldwin

Currently not on view

Portrait of James Baldwin

1945

Beauford Delaney (American (active Paris), 1901–1979)

This iconic painting is a very early depiction of the famous writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, who was twenty-one when Delaney created this portrait. Closely cropped and vibrantly painted, it jumps out from the canvas, presenting an up-close encounter with the sitter. As in Delaney's self-portraits, he painted one eye slightly different from the other, a pictorial device also found in Pablo Picasso's paintings. Of the many portraits Delaney made of Baldwin, this one is among his most direct and expressive.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Portrait of James Baldwin

Date:

1945

Artist:

Beauford Delaney (American (active Paris), 1901–1979)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

22 × 18 inches (55.9 × 45.7 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

125th Anniversary Acquisition. Purchased with funds contributed by The Daniel W. Dietrich Foundation in memory of Joseph C. Bailey and with a grant from The Judith Rothschild Foundation, 1998

Accession Number:

1998-3-1

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view