Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation

From June 5 through August 8, 2026, the University of Tennessee (UT) Downtown Gallery is showing Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation—an exhibition that revisits Beauford’s work and worlds through the lens of the relationships he forged from his hometown of Knoxville to Paris, the last place he called home.

Curated by Derek Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney estate, and Mike Berry, Curator at the UT Downtown Gallery, the show explores “the deeply reciprocal influence the artist had on those he encountered throughout his travels across the domestic and international stage.”

Entrance to Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
Image courtesy of the Estate of Beauford Delaney

CLAMART ‘61
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

The exhibition opened on June 5, 2026 at 6:30 PM with a First Friday event called Gallery Talk. Attendees listened to remarks made by curators Spratley and Berry as well as Dr. Mary Campbell, Associate Professor of Art History at UT Knoxville and Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. & Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Opening reception for Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
Images courtesy of the UT Downtown Gallery

Derek Spratley, Esquire
Court Appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney estate
Image courtesy of UT Downtown Gallery

Dr. Mary Campbell
Associate Professor of Art History at UT Knoxville
Image courtesy of UT Downtown Gallery

Portraits of three of the most important people in Beauford’s life are displayed in the exhibit:

James Baldwin,

James Baldwin, Istanbul, Turkey
(ca. 1965) Ink on paper
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Dante Pavone,

Dante Pavone
(1948) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

and Henry Miller.

Sketch of Henry Miller
Ink on paper
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

In addition to works by Beauford, the exhibition features works by friends and paintings and drawings from the Ewing Gallery Permanent Collection by Beauford’s brother, Joseph Delaney.

On Saturday, July 25, the gallery will host an afternoon of exphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by visual art). Curated by Dr. Natalie Graham, Inaugural Poet Laureate, Orange County, CA 2022-2024, the performance will feature readings by award-winning local and international poets.

As part of Downtown Knoxville’s First Friday Art Walk, the UT Downtown Gallery is open until 9 PM on the first Friday of each month.

UT Downtown Gallery
106 S. Gay Street
Knoxville TN 37902
Telephone: 865-673-0802

HOURS

W-F: 11am – 6pm
SAT: 10am – 3pm

FIRST FRIDAY: 2pm-9pm