JOSEPH STELLA

Painter and illustrator, Joseph Stella, is considered to be an early American modernist and is best known for his paintings which were influenced by the Futurist and Symbolist movements. Stella was born in Italy in 1877, immigrated to New York City in 1896 and by 1898 he was studying drawing and painting under the direction of William Merritt Chase. Many of his early illustrations appear in The Century, Everybody’s and Survey Graphic magazines between 1901 and 1908. However, it was his dynamic paintings of the Brooklyn Bridge that helped build his status as a painter. A passionate man, Stella was an international figure who explored many varieties of artistic styles. He died in Astoria, New York in 1946.