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Delaney combines aggressive brushwork, exaggerated poses and a tendency toward caricature to suggest the group's animated conversation.

Delaney is shown with his back to the viewer talking to a man believed to be the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock.

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Joseph Delaney

The Artist’s Party, 1941–1943

oil on canvas

30 x 25 in.

Gift of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Indianapolis Chapter, and Mr. Kim Anderson and the Estate of Hermine Floch by exchange

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Joseph Delaney arrived in New York from Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1930 near the end of the Harlem Renaissance. He settled in Harlem and enrolled at the Art Students League in New York, where he met Jackson Pollock. The two became close friends, and they exhibited together at the second annual Washington Square Outdoor Show in April 1932. Delaney particularly enjoyed painting scenes of the discussions between artists in his Harlem apartment that included Pollock. Delaney was influenced by his teacher Thomas Hart Benton, whose lively paintings focused on the American scene. Delaney’s expressionist style, with its exaggerated poses, focused on his personal experiences as an African American. Delaney never thought of himself as different from other artists and did not think of his art as “black art.” It expressed not only what he was familiar with but also the human condition.

His view of himself as an equal among artists is apparent in The Artist’s Party, where he sits at the head of the table in animated conversation with Pollock, who is at his right. The names of the other two artists have been suggested, but none have been confirmed. The scene is typical of Delaney’s view of his role an important artist whose friends were not determined by color. Outside the window is a familiar New York fire escape, and inside is a stove with two pots, an oval mirror and hooks from which hang hats and a sack, which create an atmosphere that adds to the sense of camaraderie. The artists smoke, hold drinks and appear to be engaging in a heated conversation. Delaney’s rich color palette enhances the dynamic composition, which displays the artist’s spontaneous and energetic brushwork.

References

http://sunsite.utk.edu/delaney/delaney.htm  (There are no books in print on Delaney, but this Web site is great.)