Surrealist Green Acrylic Abstract by Beckford Young

Details

Description

In this serene composition, Beckford Young translates the language of landscape into a biomorphic abstraction of flowing lines and embedded … Read more In this serene composition, Beckford Young translates the language of landscape into a biomorphic abstraction of flowing lines and embedded forms. Cool shades of aquamarine, moss green, and deep indigo generate a meditative sense of underwater stillness. The figures—suggestive of both human and plant anatomy—appear to dissolve and reform within the composition, reflecting Young’s fascination with the continuum of life and matter.

Context and Legacy
A student of Hans Hofmann and a prominent participant in Depression-era mural projects, Young’s art merged American regional sensibility with European modernist discipline. His works consistently balance spontaneity and structure, grounding spiritual ideas in tangible natural forms.

Collector’s Note
This work exemplifies Young’s skill as a printmaker and his lyrical engagement with abstraction. The piece’s fluid composition and harmonious tonality make it both contemplative and powerfully expressive.

​About the Artist
Mayo Beckford Young (1905–1983) was an American painter, muralist, and printmaker born in Petaluma, California. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and later in Munich with Hans Hofmann. During the 1930s, Young worked on Federal Art Project murals, eventually serving as Supervisor for the Oakland area and later as Art Director for Northern California. A member of the San Francisco Art Association and the American Abstract Artists, he exhibited widely, including at the Golden Gate International Exposition, the San Francisco Museum Association, the New Jersey State Museum, and the National Museum of American Art.

Rooted in experimentation, Young’s work bridges surrealism, abstraction, and the natural environment, often merging the human form with organic and mythological motifs. See less