Joseph Delaney represents the generation of African American artists that emerged during the Great Depression, opening a door that invited many brother artists to step forward and become equal partners in the field of visual art. In their book, A History of African-American Artists, Romare Bearden and Harry Henderson write: “Paradoxically, it was during the Great Depression of the 1930s that significant numbers of African American artists were able to work at their art full time for the first time, through the government work-relief art project.” 

Delaney’s artistic style was shaped during these troubling days of the Great Depression. His studies under Thomas Hart Benton in the early 1930s, as well as works produced under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program, initially steered Delaney’s orientation toward social realism, and later, expressive realism. Delaney’s urban landscapes and figurative images are not mere snapshots of reality; indeed, they contain details that promote social commentary. “Using the commonplace, Delaney crafted a subtle exposition of perception and race, questioning whether one can penetrate racial archetypes to perceive the individual,” writes Kirsten Buick in the exhibition catalog, African Americans in Art (Art Institute of Chicago).