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UT Libraries acquires archive of Knoxville-born artist Beauford Delaney

Delaney was born in Knoxville in 1901 and died in 1979 in a Paris hospital.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The personal archive of Beauford Delaney, the Knoxville-born and internationally regarded 20th century artist, is now part of the collection of the University of Tennessee Libraries.

The material amounts to what would be 30 storage boxes. It all has to now be catalogued ahead of display. Some was recovered stuffed in books owned by Delaney.

It includes the artist's correspondence with writers and artists such as his friend James Baldwin, Georgia O'Keefe and Henry Miller. There are also sketchbooks and preliminary studies and photographs.

UT announced Tuesday it had acquired the content.

The Knoxville Museum of Art and the Beck Center also are building their own Delaney body of work. KMA hosted an exhibition of Delaney's paintings and his friendship with Baldwin in early 2020.

Delaney was born in 1901 and lived until 1979. He left Knoxville for New York City in 1929 and eventually gravitated to France.

Holly Mercer, senior associate dean of libraries, said once Delaney's effects are processed, the library system will create a "finding aid" that can be used online through the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives.

The library hopes to debut some of what it has acquired in conjunction with KMA and the Beck, which has acquired a former Delaney family home next door to it on Dandridge Avenue.

Delaney was part of the artistic Harlem Renaissance, recognized for his modernist work. His brother, Joseph, also was an artist.

Beauford posing for the invitation card for the 1973 exhibition of his work at Galerie Darthea Speyer.

UT Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a release Tuesday the archive will "allow for new opportunities for learning, research, and creative engagement throughout our community and the world.”

According to UT, UT Libraries will work with the Beck and KMA to "leverage their collective holdings through programs, exhibitions, digital projects, and other initiatives to offer cultural enrichment and education to the wider Knoxville community. Their cooperative efforts will attract national and international students and scholars working in a diverse array of subject areas."

Credit: KMA
James Baldwin portrait by Beauford Delaney

Money to acquire the archive came from the support of philanthropists Jim and Natalie Haslam and Ann and Steve Bailey as well library endowment and UT’s Office of the Chancellor and Office of the Provost.

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