Joseph Stella
“I had been working along the lines of the old masters, seeking to portray a civilization long since dead. And then working one night I went on bus ride to Coney Island during Mardi Gras…Arriving at the Island I was instantly struck by the dazzling array of lights…I was struck with the thought that here was what I had been unconsciously seeking for many years.” – Joseph Stella
Joseph Stella, having mastered the traditional, naturalistic modes of drawing and painting promoted by renowned academies, worked as a magazine illustrator from 1905-06. In his early representations of American industry for these assignments, particularly in Pittsburg, he often illustrated industrial landscapes as dark, ominous, and even venomous. Relying on the technics of classical artists — such as Rembrandt — and other academy-approved styles, he journeyed to Europe from 1909-12 to further study Old Master and Renaissance painting. While in Paris, he learned of the modern art movements, Cubism and Fauvism, which profoundly changed his technique and inspired his search for his own style.
When he returned to New York City, Stella became acquainted with the Italian Futurists, who sought to portray speed, movement and the technological excitement of contemporary urban life. The Futurist philosophy, along with the bright lights and carnivalish ambience of city life, influenced in Stella a new style of design that would capture the emotional, spiritual and life-like vitality of industry in America. Combining the vivid coloration and sharp linear, edges of the Futurists, he presented a mysterious, organic outlook on the American Industrial age of the early 20th century.
Joseph Stella was born in Muro Lucano, Italy. He moved to New York City in 1896. He studied with the Art Students League and the New York School of Art, the latter with William Merritt Chase.
Joseph Stella, having mastered the traditional, naturalistic modes of drawing and painting promoted by renowned academies, worked as a magazine illustrator from 1905-06. In his early representations of American industry for these assignments, particularly in Pittsburg, he often illustrated industrial landscapes as dark, ominous, and even venomous. Relying on the technics of classical artists — such as Rembrandt — and other academy-approved styles, he journeyed to Europe from 1909-12 to further study Old Master and Renaissance painting. While in Paris, he learned of the modern art movements, Cubism and Fauvism, which profoundly changed his technique and inspired his search for his own style.
When he returned to New York City, Stella became acquainted with the Italian Futurists, who sought to portray speed, movement and the technological excitement of contemporary urban life. The Futurist philosophy, along with the bright lights and carnivalish ambience of city life, influenced in Stella a new style of design that would capture the emotional, spiritual and life-like vitality of industry in America. Combining the vivid coloration and sharp linear, edges of the Futurists, he presented a mysterious, organic outlook on the American Industrial age of the early 20th century.
Joseph Stella was born in Muro Lucano, Italy. He moved to New York City in 1896. He studied with the Art Students League and the New York School of Art, the latter with William Merritt Chase.
(near Naples, Italy, 1877 – 1946)
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