Joseph Stella

A pioneering modernist in American art, Joseph Stella (1877-1946) is recognized primarily for his dynamic Futurist-inspired paintings of New York, in particular Coney Island and the Brooklyn Bridge. Through these majestic works—which emerged beginning in 1913—Stella established his reputation as a bold and innovative artist who was able to convey the excitement of the city and modern life. At the same time, Stella was compelled to express the powerful spiritual connection he felt with the natural world through his many paintings of flora and fauna. This was a subject the artist would pursue persistently through his entire career, becoming a prolific creator of lyrical and exuberant depictions of flowers, plants and birds. Stella saw a purity and beautiful mystery in nature and explored it with passion, combining realism and fantasy in a modernist idiom.

Excerpt from the exhibition description for Joseph Stella: Visionary Nature, co-organized by the Brandywine Museum of Art and the High Museum of Art, which premiered at the Norton Museum of Art on October 15, 2022. See the website for more details: https://www.brandywine.org/museum/exhibitions/joseph-stella-visionary-nature