"Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras," Joseph Stella, 1913-14.

Stella (1877-1946), born in Italy, emigrated to the US to study medicine, returned to Europe for a while, but came back to the US in 1913 to give it a second chance. He'd been influenced by Modernist art during his European sojourn, and his returns to the US meant he found many subjects for his new style.

This is "Futurism," a Modernist style that emphasized dynamism, technology, youth, and movement. While this canvas appears to be a chaotic abstract, you start noticing the dots at the bottom that are the surging crowds, and the circles and swirls of color that represent the lights on the rides, as well as the angular forms suggesting a roller coaster and other structures. You can see circus tents, beams from spotlights, human figures, an orchestra, and snatches of words. It's an impressive evocation of night in an American amusement park of the era.

This painting is ranked as of the first, and probably the greatest, works of American Futurism. He later moved to a style called Precisionism, celebrating angular industrial forms, but later in life was not clearly associated with any school of art.

From the Yale University Gallery of Art, New Haven.

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"Bridge"
Teableau for 08/25/25

The painting is "Bridge" by Joseph Stella, 1936, for the WPA. You know, back when the US federal government could actually do something good for the country and its people.

#Tea #WPA #Art #GreatDepression #Teableau #TeaCozy #TeaCosy #BlackTea #GreenTea #VintageChina #Handmade #Sewing #Painting #1930s #ArtDeco #ArtNouveau #NewDeal #JosephStella

« Brooklyn Bridge » by Joseph Stella

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« Purissima » by Joseph Stella

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« The Virgin » by Joseph Stella

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"Capri," Joseph Stella, c. 1926-29.

Most famous for his views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Stella (1877-1946) also did a number of nature paintings, but always with a strong Modernist bent.

The tree at center is very angular and reminds me somewhat of a menorah. Note how, on the left, the branches match up almost perfectly with the edge of the mountain in the background. The two bushes flanking it are impossibly perfectly conical. The background, with the mountains and boats, is the only part that's halfway naturalistic.

It's an interesting image, a mixture of nature and Modernism that doesn't thrill me but I acknowledge its quality. Ain't my thing, but maybe it's yours.

From a private collection.

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"Brooklyn Bridge," Joseph Stella, 1919-20.

Stella (1877-1946) was born in Italy but came to the US in 1869 to study medicine, but soon abandoned that and embraced art. He began as a figural, realist painter, doing a lot of illustration work, but later, while traveling in Europe, embraced Modernism and Futurism.

Returning to the US in 1911, he plunged into the avant-garde modern art world, and became quite the mover and shaker. This canvas here is the first of a number of paintings he did of the Brooklyn Bridge, which he used as a symbol of progress. In the 30s he progressed with his style, going from Futurism to Precisionism to Abstract to Surrealist to the point that he belonged to no school in particular. In the late 30s and 40s, sadly, his career declined and he got little notice. But his earlier work still is praised as trailblazing classics.

From the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.

#Art #AmericanArt #JosephStella #Futurism