Stella, Joseph

Stella, Joseph, 1877–1946, American painter, b. Italy, emigrated to the United States in 1896. He studied at the Art Students League of New York City with William Chase and later in Italy and Paris. He is best known for his cubist- and futurist-inspired paintings executed in the years around 1920. These works strikingly expressed the vibrancy and dynamism of life in New York City. The best known of this group is “The Bridge,” from the series New York Interpreted (Newark Mus., N.J.). He later turned to more mystical subjects, in paintings notable for their strong color and incisive realism.

See biography by I. B. Jaffe (1970).

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