Portrait of Clara Fasano

Joseph Stella, Portrait of Clara Fasano, 1943, pastel on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.32.2
Joseph Stella, Portrait of Clara Fasano, 1943, pastel on paper, sheet: 27 1⁄8 x 15 in. (68.9 x 38.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.32.2
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Artwork Details

Title
Portrait of Clara Fasano
Artist
Date
1943
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 27 1⁄8 x 15 in. (68.9 x 38.1 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Mediums
Mediums Description
pastel on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait female — Fasano, Clara — bust
Object Number
1973.32.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1973.32.2

Artwork Description

Stella drew his friend Clara Fasano on numerous occasions, creating casual studies and posed portraits such as this bold, formal image. Her fashionable hat, flowing black veil, and dramatic red lips and scarf clearly place her in the 1940s. The strong outlines of her face and jacket suggest a self-assured, modern woman. One of America’s foremost modernist artists, Stella retained strong ties to his Italian roots as well as to the traditions of the old masters. Even when drawing his friends, he preferred a strict profile view, reminiscent of the early Italian Renaissance tradition.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009

Works by this artist (16 items)

View all artworks
Joseph Stella, Untitled--Man with Bagpipe, ca. 1910, printed late 1950s, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Bernard Rabin in memory of Henry A. Rabin, 1989.17.3
Untitled – Man with Bagpipe
Artist
Dateca. 1910, printed late 1950s
etching on paper
Not on view
Joseph Stella, Neapolitan Song, 1929, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Françoise and Harvey Rambach, 2000.11
Neapolitan Song
Artist
Date1929
oil on canvas
Not on view
Joseph Stella, Flower Study, ca. 1919, silverpoint and crayon on prepared paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Robert Tyler Davis Memorial Fund, 1985.60
Flower Study
Artist
Dateca. 1919
silverpoint and crayon on prepared paper
Not on view
Joseph Stella, Pine Tree, 1919, silverpoint and crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Caroline Keck, 2008.17
Pine Tree
Artist
Date1919
silverpoint and crayon on paper
Not on view