This Feb. 5 through Feb. 27, in celebration of Black History Month, the UT Downtown Gallery is introducing the “Beauford and Joseph Delaney: Lives in Art” exhibition. The Delaney brothers have both had posthumous solo exhibitions. This is the first joint exhibition of the Knoxville-born brothers’ paintings and drawings. 

Gallery manager Mike Barry gave a bit of information on the exhibition.

“It is unique to have two brothers from Knoxville with international recognition and have their work side by side for the very first time and curated in a way to see their different sensibilities and tastes in subject matter and materials,” Berry said. 

Both brothers have work displaying at other institutional collections throughout Knoxville, along with several other premier private and public museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Beauford Delaney’s work has been sold for up to six figures.

In 1970, their paintings were intended to be exhibited together at the McClung Museum, previously known as the McClung Gallery, where their mother worked as a custodian. However, the older brother, Beauford, suffered from mental illness and was unable to have his work delivered from Paris, where he died in an asylum in 1979. 

The exhibition was sponsored by the Black Student Union and became a solo of Joseph Delaney’s work. Joseph Delaney then arranged for his brother’s art to be shipped to him in Knoxville, and later he brought his brother’s work with him to New York City in 1986. 

Ewing Gallery staff member Sarah McFalls also added a bit of backstory. 

“He was the custodian of a large part of his brother’s legacy,” McFalls said.

Berry described their work in careful detail. 

“Beauford responded to the aura, or place, of a sitter and would use intense color to translate those feelings. Joseph was a keen observer of life. Living in New York City for over 50 years no doubt sharpened that skill,” Berry said.

Beauford Delaney documented scenes of bustling life in New York City. His work is noted for intense color palettes and abstract expressionism in his portraits, and his sensibility and extraordinary use of color accents bring emotion into his work. 

During the 1930s and 1940s, both Delaney brothers became notable African American painters of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance, named for the Harlem neighborhood in New York City, is considered an explosive period of Black culture that manifested into literature, music, and art. 

Joseph Delaney is known for being an observer that captured humanity and documented cityscapes around him. This connects the viewer to his art by using a live narrative of history and humanity. He was often outside sketching the movement of the scenery. 

“Joseph was a chronicler of his surroundings and a life-long student of the figure. He was constantly honing his hand and eye,” McFalls said. 

Joseph Delaney is known for his paintings of New York Street life. He lived in Chicago and New York City before returning to Knoxville to become an artist in residence at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He held this position until his death in 1991. 

The Delaney family was prominent in the Knoxville community. Their mother was born into slavery and their father was a barber and Methodist minister. Their parents preached to them about the injustices of racism and the value of education. 

Joseph and Beauford Delaney shared a love and commitment for art. Both endured hardships of poverty, racism, and for Beauford Delaney, homophobia. Now, 50 years later, their artistic legacy continues.