Since making the acquaintance of 11 Knoxvillians who came to Paris in February 2016 to see the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition and visit Beauford's old haunts on the "Beauford Delaney's Montparnasse" walking tour, the trajectories of this blog and the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) have been intertwined.
I have visited Knoxville twice since that time and have come to know Executive Director David Butler, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator Stephen Wicks, former KMA trustee Sylvia Peters, and many others at the museum as we have worked in parallel on both sides of the Atlantic to preserve and extend Beauford's legacy.
So it is with great pleasure that I write this post to announce that KMA is now the world's largest public repository for Beauford Delaney oils, watercolors, and pastels.
Knoxville Museum of Art at Twilight
Photo courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art
Leading museum collections of Beauford Delaney’s work
The expansion of the collection has been gathering steam since 2014, when KMA acquired two works with funds provided by the KMA Collectors Circle. In August 2014, it acquired nineteen additional works, including the abstract oil entitled Scattered Light (1963). A subsequent purchase brought the total number of works owned to thirty-seven (37).
In 2016, the museum purchased two portraits: Portrait of Delia Delaney (1933) and Dante Pavone as Christ (1948).
In 2017, it acquired twelve (12) major works from the Delaney estate. Three of the twelve were obtained through a partnership between KMA and the Knoxville chapter of The Links, Incorporated.
“This purchase represents the highest and best expression of the museum’s commitment to the visual culture of our region,” states KMA Executive Director David Butler. “A broad spectrum of the community responded generously and with alacrity and enthusiasm to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the KMA a vital resource for the study, preservation, and promotion of Beauford Delaney’s work.”
The following images represent some of the works purchased in 2017.
Blue Light Abstraction
(ca. 1962) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (African Figure)
(ca. 1965) Oil on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Abstraction #12
(1963) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
KMA plans to mount a major international exhibition of Beauford Delaney’s work in the fall of 2019, and is participating with a growing roster of local cultural organizations operating collectively as “The Delaney Project” to organize events to celebrate the achievements of Beauford and his brother, artist Joseph Delaney, in their hometown.
Selections from the 2017 purchase will be on view at the KMA beginning this spring.
I have visited Knoxville twice since that time and have come to know Executive Director David Butler, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator Stephen Wicks, former KMA trustee Sylvia Peters, and many others at the museum as we have worked in parallel on both sides of the Atlantic to preserve and extend Beauford's legacy.
So it is with great pleasure that I write this post to announce that KMA is now the world's largest public repository for Beauford Delaney oils, watercolors, and pastels.
Photo courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art
Leading museum collections of Beauford Delaney’s work
The expansion of the collection has been gathering steam since 2014, when KMA acquired two works with funds provided by the KMA Collectors Circle. In August 2014, it acquired nineteen additional works, including the abstract oil entitled Scattered Light (1963). A subsequent purchase brought the total number of works owned to thirty-seven (37).
In 2016, the museum purchased two portraits: Portrait of Delia Delaney (1933) and Dante Pavone as Christ (1948).
In 2017, it acquired twelve (12) major works from the Delaney estate. Three of the twelve were obtained through a partnership between KMA and the Knoxville chapter of The Links, Incorporated.
“This purchase represents the highest and best expression of the museum’s commitment to the visual culture of our region,” states KMA Executive Director David Butler. “A broad spectrum of the community responded generously and with alacrity and enthusiasm to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the KMA a vital resource for the study, preservation, and promotion of Beauford Delaney’s work.”
The following images represent some of the works purchased in 2017.
(ca. 1962) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(ca. 1965) Oil on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1963) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
KMA plans to mount a major international exhibition of Beauford Delaney’s work in the fall of 2019, and is participating with a growing roster of local cultural organizations operating collectively as “The Delaney Project” to organize events to celebrate the achievements of Beauford and his brother, artist Joseph Delaney, in their hometown.
Selections from the 2017 purchase will be on view at the KMA beginning this spring.
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