Three (3) Joseph Delaney (Tennessee/New York, 1904-1991) ink on paper drawings depicting recumbent female subjects, including two (2) nudes. Smallest nude drawing signed "Joseph Delaney" lower left; two (2) drawings unsigned. All items unframed. Ranging in size from 16" H x 10 1/2" W to 20" H x 26 3/4" W. Biography (By Frederick C. Moffat): Joseph Delaney was born in Knoxville in 1904, the ninth of ten children born to a Methodist Minister. He and his older brother, Beauford, discovered their interest in art by drawing on Sunday School cards. In 1930, Joseph left Tennessee for New York where Beauford was also working as an artist, and enrolled in the Art Students League under the tutelage of Thomas Hart Benton and Alexander Brooke. The subject matter he found there, including the city's landmarks and its people, are the images for which he is best known. In 1986, Delaney returned to Knoxville to live and was artist-in-residence for the University of Tennessee Art Department until his death in 1991. Delaney's works are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Chicago Art Institute, The Knoxville Museum of Art, and The Smithsonian American Art Museum.

PROVENANCE: The Estates of Ogust and Lois Imogene Delaney, Knoxville, Tennessee.

CONDITION: All items in overall good condition with toning, few scattered minute foxing spots, scuff, and handling wear. Two largest drawings with creases; tears, largest 1 1/2"; and areas of loss, largest 3" x 1 1/2", to edges of sheets (slightly affects overall image of largest drawing ).