On View
On viewObject number2005.8
Dog on a Balcony, Paris
Artist
Joseph Stella
(American, 1877-1946)
Date1929
Mediumoil on canvas mounted to board
Dimensionsimage: 21 1/8 × 18 1/8 in. (53.7 × 46 cm)
frame: 37 1/4 × 24 1/4 × 1 3/4 in. (94.6 × 61.6 × 4.4 cm)
frame: 37 1/4 × 24 1/4 × 1 3/4 in. (94.6 × 61.6 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineElisabeth Claire Lahti Fund and Permanent Collection Fund
Exhibition History"Joseph Stella," Drew University, Madison, NJ (1963).
"The Animal in Art: Selections from the Hirshhorn Museum Collection," Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (Nov. 17, 1977 - Jan. 15, 1978) (no. 59).
"A Legacy for Kalamazoo: Works Acquired through the Elisabeth Claire Lahti Fund, 1998 - 2012," KIA (Sept. 29, 2012 - Jan. 20, 2013).
"Lasting Legacy: A Collection for Kalamazoo," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan (Sep. 6, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2015).
"Unveiling American Genius," KIA Permanent Collection Exhibition, Traditional, Markin, Nay and Groos Galleries (March 1, 2021 - December 31, 2023).Label TextThe American artist Joseph Stella is best known for his futurist works depicting the Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island, and other urban scenes. Although these are important pieces in his body of work, these images represent only a small segment of his wide-ranging and eclectic oeuvre. The diversity of Stella's work reflects his multi-national background. Born in Italy and raised in New York, Stella returned to Italy to study the Old Masters and also spent time living in Paris.
This painting points to Stella's interest in precisionism, a movement which focused on mechanical and industrial subjects and often depicted them in simplified, geometric forms. Dog on a Balcony, Paris overlays this precisionist viewpoint with the detailed decorative scrollwork of the balcony railing, and then further distances the viewer's focus with the inclusion of the natural world, in the form of the dog.
