Beulah Woodard Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Beulah Woodard Art Value Price Guide

Oct. 06, 2022
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman.
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman. Oil on cotton canvas, circa 1935. 610x508 mm; 24x20 inches. Provenance: the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Los Angeles, sold at Swann Galleries on October 4, 2007; private collection, Pennsylvania. Exhibited: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1935. Beulah Woodard was the first significant African American female artist working on the West Coast. This very rare example of Woodard's painting was exhibited in her important one-woman show of sculpture and painting at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1935, the first solo exhibition there for an African American. According to Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins, African Woman is likely a portrait of Maudelle Bass Weston, the dancer and model who also posed for the ceramic bust entitled Maudelle. Thousands visited the exhibition, and Los Angeles newspapers and the Associated Press covered the story. Her portraits of African people are noted for their realism and attention to detail; this is one of only a few known paintings.
Swann Auction Galleries
May. 16, 2020
Beulah Ecton Woodard, 1895 - 1955, Young Boy (Chuck), Painted clay (fired), 12-1/2 x 10 x 6 inches
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Beulah Ecton Woodard 1895 - 1955 Young Boy (Chuck) Painted clay (fired) 1954 signed and dated, "B. Woodard" and "9-54" 12-1/2 x 10 x 6 inches
Black Art Auction
May. 16, 2020
Beulah Ecton Woodard, 1895 - 1955, Bad Boy, Bronze, 6-3/4 x 5-1/2 x 5-1/4 inches
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Beulah Ecton Woodard 1895 - 1955 Bad Boy Bronze 1937 (conceived in 1936) Signed and dated Incised founder's mark, Helli-Art-Bronze-Works-LA Provenance: The Golden State Mutual Life African-American Art Collection, Swann Auction Galleries, lot 4, October 4, 2007 to Dr. Dianne Whitfield-Locke and Dr. Carnell Locke, Maryland Exhibited: Building on Tradition, The Collection of Dr. Dianne Whitfield-Locke and Dr. Carnell Locke, Hampton University Museum, October 12, 2013-December 7, 2013. Literature: Creating Their Own Image - The History of African-American Women Artists, p. 95, figure 4.17, Lisa Farrington, 2005. (A different example) 3 Generations of African American Women Sculptors: A Study in Paradox, catalog to the exhibition at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, PA. Lizetta LeFalle-Collins, "Working from the Pacific Rim, Beulah Woodard and Elizabeth Catlett", p. 42 (1996). Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women Artists, Jontyle Theresa Robinson, Curator, Spelman College and Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1996, p. 66. International Review of African American Art, Vol. 24, 3B, a Hampton University publication, p. 30. 6-3/4 x 5-1/2 x 5-1/4 inches
Black Art Auction
Apr. 06, 2017
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Untitled (Bust of a Mangbetu Woman).
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Untitled (Bust of a Mangbetu Woman). Cast bronze with a black patina, 1937. 184x102x114 mm; 7 1/4x4x4 1/2 inches. Inscribed signature and date on verso. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; Miriam Matthews, Los Angeles; thence by descent to the current owner. This small but beautiful African bust is only the second bronze by the artist to come to auction. Most of Beulah Woodard''s heads are either in terra cotta or plaster which she then painted to look like bronze.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 06, 2017
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Mask.
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Mask. Hammered and welded sheet metal with a cooper patina, on a wooden support, circa 1935. 508x305 mm; 20x12 inches. Incised signature on verso of wooden support. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; Miriam Matthews, Los Angeles; thence by descent to the current owner. Exhibited: Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1935; GSM''s Negro Art Collection, Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Los Angeles, circa 1966. This sculpture was illustrated in a company publication with highlights both from the collection and loaned works from private collections. This African ceremonial mask was first exhibited in Beulah Woodard''s important solo exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1935, its first solo exhibition for an African-American artist. Lisa Farrington describes how the eight week exhibtion of Woodard''s series of masks attracted attention of both local and national newspapers when the story was picked up by the Associated Press, and helped launch her career. Beulah Woodard faithfully recorded African styles of dress and decoration in both her busts and masks from her own research. In 1937, she founded the Los Angeles Negro Art Association, and throughout her career, supported efforts "to educate African Americans to take pride in their African heritage." Farrington pp. 95-96.
Swann Auction Galleries
Dec. 15, 2015
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Bad Boy.
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Bad Boy. Painted terracotta, 1937. Approximately 172x127x76 mm; 6 3/4x5x3 inches. Incised signature "Woodard" and date "1937", lower right verso. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection; thence by descent to the current owner. Illustrated; Lisa Farrington, Creating Their Own Image - The History of African-American Women Artists, p. 95, fig. 4.17. A bronze cast in the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company art collection was sold at Swann Galleries on October 4, 2007. Beulah Woodard was the first significant African-American female sculptor working on the West Coast. While geographically removed from the Harlem Renaissance, Woodard was inspired by the news and writings of the growing African-American artistic community. In Bad Boy, we see in particular the influence of sculptor Augusta Savage, especially her iconic bust, Gamin, 1930. Both artists sought to convey a natural realism in the careful modelling of an expressive young boy's face. Farrington pp. 94-96.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 02, 2015
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Maudelle.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Maudelle. Painted terra cotta, mounted on a wood base, circa 1937. Approximately 305 mm; 12 inches high. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection; thence by descent to the current owner. Illustrated: Farrington, Lisa, Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists, figure 4.18, p. 95. This beautiful bust by Beulah Woodard is a very scarce example of this early Californian sculptor's work. In this sensitive portrayal, Woodard displays a powerful realism - particularly in the careful modelling of her subject's features. Woodard made a different head of the model Maudelle in glazed terracotta, ex-collection the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, now in the collection of Columbia Museum of Art and Archeology and University of Missouri. Maudelle Bass (1908 - 1989) was a professional dancer and artist's model. She danced in Agnes de Mille's Black Ritual in 1940, and appeared with Pearl Primus in the 1950's. She also modelled for such artists as Diego Rivera, Edward Weston, Carl Van Vechten and Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo. Farrington pp. 95-96.
Swann Auction Galleries
Feb. 13, 2014
BEULAH ECTON WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
BEULAH ECTON WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman. Glazed terra cotta, circa 1937-38. Approximately 292x286x114 mm; 11 1/2x11 1/4x4 1/2 inches. Signed in glaze in the interior. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection; thence by descent to the current owner. Illustrated; Farrington, Lisa, Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Woman Artists, figure 4.16, p. 94. This beautiful, modern bust by Beulah Woodard is a very scarce example of this early Californain sculptor's work. In celebrating African beauty, African Woman displays Woodard's powerful realism in the careful modelling of the subject's features and in the detailed description of her headdress, hair and earrings. Woodard made a similar African woman in terracotta entitled Maudelle, ex-collection the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, sold at Swann Galleries on October 4, 2007, and now in the collection of Columbia Museum of Art and Archeology, University of Missouri. Woodard was commited to the tenets of Alain Locke in his celebrated 1925 anthology The New Negro--looking to Africa instead of Europe for a new African-American aesthetic. Beulah Woodard faithfully recorded African styles of dress and decoration in both her busts and masks from her own research. In 1937, she founded the Los Angeles Negro Art Association, and throughout her career, supported efforts "to educate African Americans to take pride in their African heritage." Farrington pp. 95-96.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 07, 2008
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman.
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman. Oil on canvas, circa 1935. 610x508 mm; 24x20 inches. Provenance: the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Los Angeles, sold at Swann Galleries on October 4, 2007. Exhibited: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1935. Beulah Woodard was the first significant African-American female artist working on the West Coast. This very rare example of Woodard's painting was exhibited in her important one-woman show of sculpture and painting at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1935, the first solo exhibition there for an African-American. According to Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins, African Woman is likely a portrait of Maudelle Bass Weston, the dancer and model who also posed for the ceramic bust entitled Maudelle. Thousands visited the exhibition, and Los Angeles newspapers and the Associated Press covered the story. When Beulah Woodard was 12 years old, she met a native African which began her lifelong interest in African culture. Her portraits of Africans are noted for their realism and attention to detail; this is one of only a few known paintings.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Two Billion (Creation).
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Two Billion (Creation). Carved wood, circa 1950-55. Approximately 560x480x560 mm; 22x19x22 inches. Illustrated in The Golden State Mutual Afro-American Art Collection, p.20.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Young Boy (Chuck).
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Young Boy (Chuck). Fired clay painted pale peach, 1954. 309x252x152 mm; 12 1/2x10x6 inches. Incised "B. Woodard" and "9-54", lower base verso. Illustrated in Selected Pieces from the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. Afro-American Art Collection by Francine Carter, In Black Art, an International Quarterly, Winter, 1976, p. 20.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Biddy Mason.
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Biddy Mason. Clay painted brown, circa 1949. Approximately 588x330x253 mm; 23 1/2x13x10 inches. Scattered losses around base edge. Illustrated in Selected Pieces from the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. Afro-American Art Collection. Woodard depicts this heroic African-American woman moving her family and livestock to freedom. Bridget ("Biddy") Mason was born a slave on August 15, 1818 in Hancock County, Georgia. She was among a small group of slaves taken by her Mormon master Robert Smith, first to the Utah Territory, and then on to California. In 1856, when Smith was planning to move to the slave state of Texas, Mason petitioned a Los Angeles court for her freedom. A California judge freed her and the other slaves in Smith's possession as residents of a free state. Mason worked in Los Angeles as a nurse and midwife. Saving carefully, she was one of the first African Americans to purchase land in the city. As a businesswoman she amassed a fortune of nearly $300,000, which she shared generously with charities. She was instrumental in founding a traveler's aid center, an elementary school for black children, and was a founding member of the Los Angeles African Methodist Episcopal Church. She died on January 15, 1891 in Los Angeles.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Maudelle.
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Maudelle. Fired terra-cotta painted brown, with white and green additions, circa 1937-38. Approximately 305x310x202 mm; 12x12 1/4x8 inches. Indistinctly incised initials "BW" lower edge verso. Illustrated in Selected Pieces from the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. Afro-American Art Collection. This bust displays Woodard's powerful realism in the careful modelling of the subject's features and in the detailed description of her hair and earrings. Woodard made a similar African woman in terracotta with the same treatment of color on the earrings, and another version of Maudelle in fired clay. Throughout her career, Woodard faithfully recorded African styles of dress and decoration from her own research. Farrington pp. 94-94, ills. 4.16 and 4.18. Maudelle Bass Weston (1908 – 1989) was an African-American dancer and artists' model known professionally as Maudelle. She went on to pose for such painters as Diego Rivera, Abraham Baylinson, Nicolai Fechin, and Robert M. Jackson and photographers Johan Hagemeyer, Sonia Noskowiak, Edward Weston, Weegee, Carl Van Vechten, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, and Lola Alvarez Bravo. She moved to Los Angeles in 1933; she became a sculptor herself in 1976.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Bad Boy.
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Bad Boy. Bronze with dark brown patina, 1937. Approximately 172x140x133 mm; 6 3/4x5 1/2x5 1/4 inches. Incised signature "Woodard" and date "1937" verso. Incised "Helli-Art-Bronze-Works-LA" by the foundry verso. Another cast is in the Miriam Matthews Collection, and illustrated in Lisa Farrington, Creating Their Own Image - The History of African-American Women Artists, p. 95, figure 4.17. Some of Matthews' collection is now on loan at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. Miriam Matthews was the first African-American librarian in the Los Angeles Public Library system, and organized Beulah Woodard's first public exhibition at the Vernon branch. Outside of the Matthews collection, this group is the largest known collection of Woodard's work, and this is the first time any of her work has come to auction.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Masai Warrior.
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) Masai Warrior. Clay painted black, circa 1935. Approximately 265x204x172 mm; 10 1/2x8x7 inches. Incised signature "Woodard," lower right base. Exhibited in her one-woman show at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1935. Her 8 week exhibit of clay sculpture and papier mâché masks decorated with elaborate beads and feathers and based on her own research, attracted notice of Los Angeles newspapers and eventually the Associated Press. Thousands came to see such works as Queen, Fulah Kunda, Bapotos Chief, Ubangi Woman and Medicine Man.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 04, 2007
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman.
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
BEULAH WOODARD (1895 - 1955) African Woman. Oil on canvas, circa 1935. 610x508 mm; 24x20 inches. Exhibited in her one-woman show at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1935, the first solo exhibition there for an African-American. When Beulah Woodard was 12 years old, she met a native African which began her lifelong interest in the culture of Africa. Her portraits of Africans are noted for their realism and attention to detail; this is one of her few known paintings.
Swann Auction Galleries