Opening Reception: In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney

Join us for a reception to celebrate the opening of In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney. This will be the first comprehensive exhibition featuring works on paper by the American artist Beauford Delaney (1901–1979) at a New York museum in over three decades, and the first-ever exhibition devoted to drawing—the medium that was central to his oeuvre.

For Delaney, drawing was both a sanctuary and a space of experimentation where he could explore ideas with greater spontaneity—but this vital area of his oeuvre has received little attention. In the Medium of Life will include approximately 90 drawings, gouaches, pastels and notebook sketches marking distinct periods of Delaney’s career. The exhibition will also include several works on canvas and a detailed display of ephemera—documentary photographs, correspondence, exhibition brochures, and press clippings—compiled with the goal of providing a biographical backdrop for Delaney’s artmaking practice.

The opening reception is free and open to the public. Registration is not needed for entry.