Portrait of a Man in a Cap

Joseph Stella

c. 1900, printed 1960

An intimate etching on paper in which Stella concentrates on rendering the sitter’s character—an older man in a cap—using spare, incisive marks to convey presence and age.

A small, square gray image sits in a wide white field, and what strikes you is how a weathered face and cap seem to emerge from soft, uneven tones and vivid, biting lines so that the man’s direct, slightly weary gaze feels immediate and alive.

This early print shows Stella’s mastery of etching and his debt to expressive portrait traditions, acting as a bridge between 19th‑century realist printmaking and the more experimental modernist language he would later pursue.

Palette

Art Terms

Etching Intaglio Print Portrait Figurative Modern art

Exhibitions

Frank Stella

1970

The Drawings of Joseph Stella

1960

Frank Stella: The Indian Bird Maquettes

1979

Frank Stella: Works from 1970 to 1987

1987