$15,000
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000
American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists
Auction: June 3, 2018 3:00:00 PM EDT
Signed (twice) 'Joseph Stella' bottom right, watercolor and gouache over traces of pencil on paper laid down to board
Sheet size: 40 7/8 x 27 7/8 in. (103.8 x 70.8cm)
Provenance: Richard York Gallery, New York, New York.
William Vareika Fine Arts Ltd., Newport, Rhode Island.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, New York.
Private Collection, Delaware.
NOTE:
Though Italian-born, Joseph Stella is considered one of the great American Modernists, and is widely credited with bringing Futurism to the United States. Best known for his depictions of the Brooklyn Bridge, Stella rose to prominence following the 1913 Armory Show. Upon his arrival to New York in 1896, he studied as a draftsman at the Art Students League under William Merritt Chase. Stella traveled extensively throughout his career, returning often to his native Muro Lucano in southern Italy, and incorporating into his work inspiration gathered at each new - or familiar - locale before filtering it through his own distinct perspective. In the late 1920's, after his travels to the West Indies and Africa, Stella embarked on a series of works on paper featuring colorful flowers, birds, and still-lifes, a departure from the solidly linear man-made structures with which his work had become synonymous to that point.
While continuing his foray into the natural landscape, "Tree Form" retains the sense of geometry present in the Precisionist and Futurist cityscapes Stella produced of Lower Manhattan. His dynamic use of scale renders the winding tree trunk an imposing force. He employs a dramatically darkened color palate, making the present piece a skillful combination of his earlier work and the more experimental, exotic nature themes developed through his Caribbean voyages. The landscape has fragmented earth tones, the shapes of each demarcated region drawing the eye in at every turn. "Tree Form" is as alive as its subject, with an urgency and power that highlights Stella's background as a draftsman and his capacity as a colorist.