Delaney’s style during his New York years can be classified as figurative expressionism. He was greatly influenced by postimpressionists like van Gogh, whose technique of thickly applied oil paint, called impasto, he adopted, and also by the Fauves, who were known for their use of pure bright colors and wild brushwork. This comes across in his 1946 painting Can Fire in the Park, which shows six homeless men gathering around a firelit oil drum for warmth and companionship. Delaney struggled financially all his life, so this empathetic scene may represent a night he once spent on a park bench alongside other marginalized folk in the community.