KNOXVILLE, TN.- The Knoxville Museum of Art presents Joseph Delaney: On the Move August 17-November 4, 2018. More than 40 paintings and drawings from public and private collections around the country celebrate the life and achievement of this well-known Knoxville native.

Joseph Delaney (1904-1991) rose from humble beginnings in Knoxville to establish himself as a tireless and prolific painter of Manhattan’s urban scene. Over the span of his 60-year career, Delaney displayed a remarkable ability to express the city’s vitality using the loose brushwork of gestural abstraction, which at the time represented the cutting edge of studio practice, without sacrificing the narrative content many of his contemporaries had abandoned. The works featured in On the Move represent the variety of ways in which he used this hybrid method to infuse his painted scenes with vibrant energy, and intricate patterns of movement.

While capturing the ebb and flow of life on the boulevards and back alleys, Delaney’s vigorous brushwork also reveals his restless spirit and insatiable creative drive. On the Move has been organized by the KMA in the hopes of generating newfound appreciation and scholarly attention for an artist who captured his time and place with uncommon energy and a fiercely independent spirit. In depicting Manhattan’s urban scenes, the artist trains his ever-shifting vantage point on gleaming plazas and gritty nightspots with equal intensity and familiarity. In some compositions, near-panoramic views emphasize the pulse of crowds within vast architectural arenas. In others, the artist focuses on specific urban structures—subway cars, bridges, and roadways—that make movement possible.

“Joseph’s brother Beauford Delaney has enjoyed the bigger national and international reputation but, here in Knoxville, Joseph is by far the better-known Delaney. Beauford returned to Knoxville for only a few brief visits after he left in the 1920s, but Joseph came back to his hometown late in life and lived here for nearly a decade before his death in 1991,” explained KMA Executive Director David Butler. “A lot of people locally knew him personally, own his works, and treasure his memory. If you didn’t know ‘Joe,’ On the Move will be a revelation.”