Bidspirit auction | JOSEPH DELANEY (1891-1942) ORIGINAL NUDE

JOSEPH DELANEY (1891-1942) ORIGINAL NUDE PENCIL & OIL PASTEL - Joseph Delaney (1891 - 1942) Pencil and Oil Pastel Nude on paper, Signed lower right, measures 28 x 19 and 37 x 28 inches framed. Joseph Delaney was the younger brother of noted artist, Beauford Delaney. The youngest of 10 children, Joseph was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1904 and grew up in the heart of Knoxville?s ?particularly sophisticated and educated black community.? Joseph shared a love of drawing with his elder brother, who both learned to draw on Sunday school cards at church and took art lessons with distinguished local artist Lloyd Branson.He left his strict Methodist home at 18, and spent many years as an itinerant worker. In a self-published essay, Thirty-Six Years Exhibiting in the Washington Square Art Show, Delaney remembered his days on the road.He made money working at whatever odd job was available but also by gambling and shooting pool. He also kept a visual journal of his travels drawing other hobos and the various episodes in their lives. In 1925 Delaney arrived in Chicago and stayed for three years working in nightclubs where he met jazz musicians such as Albert Ammons, Ma Rainey, Pete Johnson, and Big Joe Turner. He also signed up for a three-year stint in the Illinois National Guard.At the age of 26, Joseph decided to follow in his brother?s footsteps and move to New York to be an artist. Joseph moved to New York City in 1930 and studied art at the Art Students League.Joseph write, ?I have seen through the years artists set up easels, artists who didn't have any experience in working on the spot and who didn't have much potential to draw on. And I have watched some artists grow into good portrait artists after trial and error under the eyes of the impartial public who won?t spare you if you don't deliver, but will give you a big hand and loud applause if you do a good job and keep you working.?Throughout his life, he was committed to opposing racial discrimination, and panoramic crowd scenes reveal Delaney?s deep concern for the lives of common people. The city?its activity, vitality, and, most significantly, its people?became his muse. His picaresque sketches were often executed in ballpoint ink on pocket-sized sketch pads for later development as finished studio pieces. With an emphasis on human connection, these canvases typically feature racially diverse figures depicted in a caricatural style?exaggerated forms that ignore anatomical scale and perspective in a cartoonish manner. Delaney spent 56 years painting portraits, figure studies, and lively scenes of urban life in lower Manhattan. Condition: small tear lower left side