Joe Stefanelli (painter)

Biography

Joe Stefanelli grew up in a large working-class Italian-American family in South Philadelphia. He was born March 20, 1921, in Philadelphia, PA.

Studied painting

Military Service in World War II

Joe Stefanelli entered the Army during World War II. Eventually he was working as an illustrator, from 1942 to 1946 provided field drawings that were published in “’Artists for Yank Magazine’’’. He traveled all over the South Pacific as a combat artist. Today these works are housed in the permanent collection of the World War II Archives Building, Washington, D.C.

Participation in the Downtown Art Scene

He had his studio in the Lower East Side, on 22nd Street. Stefanelli soon joined the "Downtown Group" which represented a group of artists who found studios in lower Manhattan. Franz Kline introduced Stefanelli to 'The Artists’ Club’. located at 39 East 8th Street. Joe Stefanelli was chosen by his fellow artists to show in the Ninth Street Show held on May 21-June 10, 1951. The show was located at 60 East 9th Street on the first floor and the basement of a building which was about to be demolished: "The artists celebrated not only the appearance of the dealers, collectors and museum people on the 9th Street, and the consequent exposure of their work but they celebrated the creation and the strength of a living community of significant dimensions."

Joe Stefanelli participated in 1951 and from 1954 to 1957 in the invitational New York Painting and Sculpture Annuals including the Ninth Street Show. These Annuals were important because the participants were chosen by the artists themselves.

Teaching Positions

By the 1960s Joe Stefanelli like many of his contemporaries taught art in major Universities.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

In 1988: Joe Stefanelli received a retrospective exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Selected Group Exhibitions

Awards

Joe Stefanelli has received number of awards:

Works in Museums and Public Collections