Artwork
Nocturne
Nocturne is an oil painting by the Precisionist artist Joseph Stella. It dates from 1928 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The hill and tree function as symbolic elements that anchor the scene, while the surrounding night conveys a sense of mystery and introspection.
The work titled Nocturne, painted by Joseph Stella in 1928, portrays a stylized hill under a night sky, centered on a solitary tree that rises against dark foliage. According to the documented description, the composition combines natural forms with a rhythmic, almost musical arrangement of lines, suggesting a contemplative mood tied to nocturnal stillness. The hill and tree function as symbolic elements that anchor the scene, while the surrounding night conveys a sense of mystery and introspection.
As part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection, the painting’s material, oil on canvas, enhances its textured depth, reinforcing the emotive power of the depicted landscape.
Technique & Style
Nocturne is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring 64.8 cm in height by 81.9 cm in width. The work is classified as a painting and was produced in 1928 by Joseph Stella. Its subject matter, as recorded in cataloguing data, encompasses a hill, trees, and a night scene, indicating a landscape composition rendered in oil paint.
The horizontal orientation of the canvas, wider than it is tall, supports a panoramic treatment of the nocturnal landscape motif.
History & Provenance
Nocturne is an oil painting by Joseph Stella dated 1928. The work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view or in storage as part of that institution's holdings. The canvas measures 64.8 cm in height by 81.9 cm in width and depicts a hill, trees, and a night scene.
Beyond its creation date, medium, and current location at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the available sources do not document the circumstances of its commission, its earlier ownership history, or its chain of custody prior to entering the museum's collection.
Nocturne, a 1928 oil painting by Joseph Stella, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. According to Wikidata records, the work's location is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it forms part of the institution's holdings. No accession or inventory number is specified in the available sources.
The sources also do not document any exhibition history for the painting, and none can be reported here.
Overview
Joseph Stella's painting, Nocturne, created in 1928, is an oil on canvas work. This piece is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It presents a nocturnal landscape, characteristic of the artist's exploration of mood and atmosphere through color and form.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Joseph Stella was an Italian-born American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America, especially his images of the Brooklyn Bridge. He is also associated with the American Precisionist movement of the 1910s–1940s.
