Joseph Stella, American, b. Muro - Croatian - 1908 - T-Shirt

A standing man, turned three-quarters and gazing off the sheet, is drawn in pencil on pale green-tinted paper in this 1908 study by Joseph Stella.

Visual Elements & Composition

The tall, vertical format gives the figure room to dominate the sheet. Sage green and charcoal grey carry most of the image, with pale cream showing through the paper where the drawing is lightest. Heavy, directional pencil shading defines the folds of his loose jacket and waistcoat. One arm folds across his chest while the other hangs at his side, holding a hat or cap at the lower right. Inscriptions along the lower left carry the artist's name and the date. There is no setting, so the man's posture and expression do all the work.

Meaning & Symbolism

The sturdy build, moustache and worn, creased clothing mark him as a man of manual labour. His jaw is set and his look is fixed and watchful, which gives the drawing its sense of resolve and self-possession. Stella (1877-1946), an Italian-born American artist, began his career recording immigrant life and labour. This sheet dates to 1908, the year he made a series of studies of workers in Pittsburgh, and it belongs to his early observational phase, before his move toward the Futurist-influenced views of New York. The drawing records ordinary men in everyday dress, reflecting a documentary interest in the people of an industrial city rather than an idealised worker.

On the Tee

The figure is drawn at near life size, so the design reads best across the chest, where the man's upright stance can stand on its own. Pencil hatching and soft green ground translate into a quiet, understated print that suits a plain shirt. Wearing it puts a working man from 1908 Pittsburgh in your everyday rotation.