1877 -1946 · Muro Lucano, New York, Paris and transatlantic futurism

Bridges, cables, crowds and electric light become the modern stained glass windows of industrial America for Joseph Stella.

Born Giuseppe Michele Stella in Muro Lucano in 1877, Joseph Stella emigrated to New York at nineteen. After artistic studies and beginnings fueled by social observation, he returned to Europe in 1910 and met the avant-gardes, notably futurism, in Paris and then in Italy. Returning to the United States in 1912, he applied fragmentation, rhythm and color to the urban experience. Back in the United States in 1912, he applied fragmentation, rhythm and color to the urban experience. Battle of Lights, Coney Island translated crowds and electricity into dynamic kaleidoscope. The Brooklyn Bridge then became his emblematic motif: radiant cables, gothic arches and broken perspectives transform the engineering work into an altar of modern civilization. New York Interpreted amplifies this vision into a monumental whole where industry, architecture and spirituality respond to each other. Yet Stella is not limited to any school; he also explores symbolic nature, portraiture, collage and Mediterranean images. His work thus links Italian memory and American modernity, futuristic geometry and almost religious feeling of the city. The "Joseph Stella" selection thus compares Italian memory and American modernity, futuristic geometry and almost religious feeling of the city. The "Joseph Stella" selection notably compares New York Interpreted and Brooklyn Bridge. His reading favors the material.

Stella looks at the machine as sacred architecture: steel, cable and light become signs of a new civilization.