Joseph Stella Boxed Notecards

Born in Muro Lucano, a small town in southern Italy, Joseph Stella (1877–1946) emigrated to New York City in 1896. Originally intending to study medicine, Stella turned instead to art. He is best known for his monumental painting Voice of the City of New York Interpreted (1920–1922, now in The Newark Museum), a panoramic, five-paneled view of 1920s Manhattan painted in a modernist style that evokes the vibrancy and dynamism of the city. Stella was an outstanding draftsman, and he made drawings throughout his career. Many of these works feature flowers, a subject that held great fascination for Stella. Attracted to their colorful and delicate beauty, he also was drawn to the symbolic meanings associated with flowers. As Stella explained, a “light, gay painting of a flower” was a “good omen that all our days may glide by serene [and] sunny.”

Stella’s works figure prominently in The Newark Museum’s permanent exhibition Picturing America, an installation that examines the powerful impact artists have had on American culture and identity.