Beuford Delaney No. 10 Downing Street N.Y. by Don Freemans 1941

Beauford Delaney is an artist friend of mine . 

I first knew him when he lived at this impor-

tant address ( from which the one in London

gets its fame) . In this well appointed tenement

which   was  a small house  located  below 

Greenwich Village , Beauford lived alone and 

worked in a total all out war for existence . He

weathered many storms with the rental agent

for each month there was a new threat to tear 

down the building . But nothing happened ex-

cept the nailing up of a new notice of demolition 

every now and then which Beauford began adding

to his collection. His staying on here for two years

was a personal triumph.

  He grew used to blackouts for there were never

any lights, but I never heard him complain as he

would show me his latest paintings by candlelight.

The plumbing wasn`t without fault either and gra-

dually the remaining fixtures began to go as loot

for the raiding neighborhood gangs.

  The winters were unthinkable things of torture. 

His windows had to be boarded up and paper stu-

ffed in all the cracks. But vividly colored cloths 

covered the walls and rem nants of all textures en-

livened  the  place  and  gave  it  an  air  of  continual 

mardi - gras. This flare for brilliance is served up in

his paintings.

  There was one winter when for several months 

Beauford hobbled about town with a cane. He was

more comfortable out of the house but he couldn` t 

explain why . His answer came near the first of spring

when the plumbers who were investigating the pipes

announced their  discovery  of  a  thick  layer  of  ice 

spreading under his floor.  This had been his solitary

companion all these winter months.

  A few days after this the house next door was torn down

and Beauford`s began to lean dangerously . He lived on a

slant for days. Realizing this was the end at No. 10. he 

packed up and moved to a loft on Greene Street.

  None of these adversities ever seem to daunt the persist-

ance of him as an artist for he paints on while he sings and

his pictures become songs.

  Last month he had his first one-man show uptown and

it was an artistic success although he still owns most of

the pictures shown. Now his paintings can be seen in the

windows of the Arts Cafeteria on East Eighth Street. You

can sometimes see Beauford there too having his coffee.

If you were ever to meet him you would feel his radiant

optimism at once and then you would know why I call him

the Primed Minister of Downing Street.