East Tennessee History Center Acquires Part of Beauford Delaney Archives

On January 27, 2018, Case Antiques of Knoxville, Tennessee sold a bundle of Beauford Delaney memorabilia during its Historic Winter Auction.

Paintbrushes and pencils, French Lesson, Letters
Image from Case Antiques Web site
The successful bidder was the East Tennessee History Center, which is also located in Knoxville.

East Tennessee History Center
© Wells International Foundation
The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection at the East Tennessee History Center is the sponsor for an historical marker that will honor Beauford and his brother, Joseph, in Knoxville. The center aspires to eventually house the entire archive held by the Beauford Delaney estate and thereby contribute to the fulfillment of the mission of Knoxville's "Gathering Light" project to make Knoxville a center of excellence for the study of the Delaney brothers' art.

The purchase consisted of the following:

• three letters, all of which were written by Beauford and addressed to his brother, Samuel (Emery) Delaney
• a greeting card sent to Beauford's niece, Ogust Delaney Stewart, from his friends, Dolly and Al Hirschfeld
• an 14 1/8" H x 8 5/8" W card (unsigned) on which is drawn a pencil sketch of figures that illustrate the mathematical sum of "2+2"
• numerous paintbrushes and drawing pencils

Bidding for this lot was spirited and the purchase price was well over four times the highest estimated bid.

(The Schomburg Center in NYC also has a Beauford Delaney archive.)