There are many themes that run throughout the exhibition Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreaml

There are many themes that run throughout the exhibition Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008. Two of the most prominent—Coney Island as a place where immigrant artists found an understanding of American identity and Coney Island as a site for visualizing the future—are vividly seen in Joseph Stella’s immense painting Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras. Stella came to the United States from Italy as a young man. On a trip to Paris in his thirties, he saw an exhibition of Italian Futurist paintings that expressed the energy of the Machine Age. Upon returning to New York, Stella created Battle of Lights, which joined his Italian and American identities. He used a Cubo-Futurist style, an example of European modernism, to depict the height of American modernity at the time, Coney Island. He called this painting “my very first American subject.”Stella took as his subject Luna Park’s Mardi Gras, an annual carnival in September meant to extend the commercial season past the summer. According to the press, the Mardi Gras in 1913 attracted the “largest” and “most demonstrative” crowd ever to attend. This can be seen in the lower register of Battle of Lights, where teeming throngs seem to pulse with excitement as people weave between the rides and amusements.When Luna Park opened in 1903, it had 250,000 electric lights. Ten years later, Stella saw these alluring lights as a symbol of America’s vibrant modernity and dazzling possibilities. By abstracting this American spectacle, the artist visualized the park’s nickname as the Electric Eden.Posted by Connie H. ChoiJoseph Stella (American, born Italy, 1877–1946), Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras, 1913–14.Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut -- source link
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