Often painted from memory and incisively capturing aspects of a sitter’s emotional life, Beauford Delaney’s portraits at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery feel strikingly immediate. Showcasing 25 portraits and 7 abstractions from the artist’s Greenwich Village days to his decades in Paris, the exhibition’s highlights demonstrate how (as the gallery puts it in a handout), “the physical description of the sitter is secondary to their psychological essence.” Here, in a portrait titled ‘Untitled (Young English Lieutenant),’ the tones of Delaney’s multi-colored background direct our eyes towards a vivid encounter with a young Englishman. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 13th. Masks and proof of vaccination are required.)
Beauford Delaney, Untitled (Young English Lieutenant), oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches, 1943.
Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education.
For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine.
Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)
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