Battle of Lights

The Italian-born Joseph Stella wrote that Coney Island presented the “most intense arabesque … [of the] surging crowd and the revolving machines generating … violent, dangerous pleasures.” This cacophony of electric lights, gyrating dancers, and radiating steel beams of the Ferris wheel and roller coasters was his first American subject. Fragments of honky-tonk signs make reference to the resort’s popular attractions, such as Steeplechase Park and Feltman’s restaurant, where the hotdog was invented. The letters C-O-M allude to the commedia dell’arte, the European equivalent of secular Mardi Gras.
– Yale University Art Gallery

This painting was shown in the infamous 1913 Armory Show in New York City and received much attention. It was hated by conservative critics and admired by young artists for its modern style.