Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Delaney, Beauford |
Title |
Joseph Delaney |
Medium |
Pastel and charcoal on paper |
Date |
1933 |
Description |
Beauford Delaney (Knoxville 1901-1979 Paris) Joseph Delaney, 1933 Pastel and charcoal on paper 16 1/4 x 23 3/4 inches Knoxville Museum of Art, 2014 purchase with funds provided by the Rachael Patterson Young Art Acquisition Reserve Knoxville-born Beauford Delaney is widely considered to be among the greatest American modern painters of the twentieth century. Despite battling poverty, prejudice, and mental illness, Delaney achieved an international reputation for his portraits, scenes of city life, and free-form abstractions marked by intense colors, bold contours, and expressive surfaces. During his youth, Delaney's precocious talent was recognized by Lloyd Branson (1853-1925), Knoxville's first full-time professional artist. Branson, recognizing that African Americans had little chance of pursuing careers in the segregated South, helped send the aspiring artist to Boston for professional training. Soon after settling in New York in 1929, Delaney attracted a distinguished circle of cultural luminaries yet enjoyed little commercial success. He served as mentor and lifelong friend to writer and activist James Baldwin, and inspired Georgia O'Keeffe to produce at least four portraits of him. Delaney produced this portrait of his younger brother and fellow artist Joseph (1904-1991) in 1933 after the two New York-based artists arrived in Knoxville to visit their family. The two brothers were a study in contrasts, especially in their approach to art. While Beauford pursued an abstract expressive style emphasizing the emotional power of brilliant color, Joseph was a devoted narrative painter whose focus remained ordinary people amid daily life. |
Catalog Number |
2014.13.01 |
Search Terms |
Pastels (Visual works) Charcoal drawings Mixed media works Drawings Paper LBGTQ+ Artist |
Credit line |
purchase with funds provided by the Rachael Patterson Young Art Acquisition Reserve |