Early Abstract and Modernist Painting
Joseph Stella (1877–1946)
Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917
Born in Italy, Joseph Stella immigrated to the United States in 1896. He produced works that combined lyrical sensibility with modernist themes and style, and soon became a leading figure in New York City’s avant-garde circles. Telegraph Poles with Buildings is among the earliest and most representational of a series of works he dedicated to industrial subjects and their brooding mystery. Dominating the composition, the crosslike telegraph pole at the center divides the scene vertically. Lines of wire, sharply edged buildings, and smokestacks complete the industrial vista, devoid of human presence. On the right, the structure’s stark geometry provides a strong contrast to the curls of smoke and clouds surrounding the factory. Including both abstract and representational elements, the painting captures the combination of awe, fascination, and even dread that the new industrial landscape inspired in Stella and his contemporaries.
Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.
Early Abstract and Modernist Painting
Joseph Stella (1877–1946)
Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917
Max Weber (1881–1961)
Construction, 1915
Patrick Henry Bruce (1881–1936)
Peinture, 1917–18
Marsden Hartley (1877–1943)
Painting No. 50, 1914–15
Arthur Dove (1880–1946)
Nature Symbolized #3: Steeple and Trees, 1911–12
Arthur Dove (1880–1946)
Sails, 1911–12
Charles Demuth (1883–1935)
Welcome to Our City, 1921
Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1880–1953)
Boy with Cow, 1921
Stuart Davis (1892–1964)
Super Table, 1925
Helen Torr (1886–1967)
Purple and Green Leaves, 1927
Arthur Dove (1880–1946)
Boat Going through Inlet, c. 1929
John Graham (1881–1961)
The Green Chair, 1928
John Storrs (1885–1956)
Politics, 1931
Ernest Lawson (1873–1939)
Brooklyn Bridge, 1917–20
John Marin (1870–1953)
Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)
Red Amaryllis, 1937
Albert Eugene Gallatin (1881–1952)
Room Space, 1937–38
Milton Avery (1885–1965)
Adolescence, 1947
George Tooker (1920–2011)
Highway, 1953
Ed Paschke (1939–2004)
Topcat Boy, 1970
Beauford Delaney (1901–1979)
Untitled (Village Street Scene), 1948
Philip Evergood (1901–1973)
Passing Show, 1951
Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946)
Kalounna in Frogtown, 1986