LaborArts

What he had on his mind he spoke with a self-taught, urban eloquence peppered with profanities that could be hard on the ear, but faultless in its line of reasoning. His paintings are the same. The perspective may be off, the colors unrealistic, the scale surreal, but the concept(s) he is trying to communicate are clear, articulate, startling in their insight, powerful in their presentation. —Son Marc Fasanella, Italian American Art, Summer 2010 More stories »

Ralph Fasanella (1914–1997) was often called an “artist of the people”—he painted elaborately detailed scenes of working-class life (games in the street, riding the subway)—and works about pressing social issues of his own and earlier eras (strikes, McCarthyism). He did more than paint, though—he engaged with the people and places he painted in myriad ways. We‘re collecting stories from some of those people, in collaboration with the American Folk Art Museum, where a small but important exhibit of paintings, drawings and other Fasanella items is on view through November 30, 2014. Resources »