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Saturday, February 2, 2019

Happy Birthday, Delia Delaney!

Beauford's mother, Delia Elizabeth Johnson Delaney, was born in Richmond, Virginia on February 1, 1865.

In the Joseph Delaney biography The Life, Art, and Times of Joseph Delaney, author Frederick C. Moffatt describes her as "the family's emotional anchor and its stealthy exhorter." Beauford's biographer, David Leeming, describes her as "the much deferred-to matriarch of the Delaney household."

The portrait of Delia Delaney represented below is my favorite of the ones I have seen by Beauford.

Portrait of Delia Delaney
(1933) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

It would be interesting to know whether Delia actually sat for any of the portraits Beauford did of her!

Photo of the Delaney Family, 1909
Top, left to right: Samuel Emery, John Samuel, Delia
Bottom, left to right: Joseph, Ogust Mae, Beauford, Naomi
Photo from du Closel archive
Image © Discover Paris!


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