Painting the Town -- Museum of the City of New York

The setting of this painting done from memory has been identified as East 12th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, in the heart of New York's Lower East Side. The neighborhood, which has been home to wave after wave of immigrants representing a patchwork of nationalities, incorporates Chinatown, Little Italy, Tompkins Square, Astor Place, and Knickerbocker Village (a 1,600-unit housing development completed in 1934). As early as 1644, freed black slaves were given plots to farm in the area, forming the nucleus for the larger African American community that would take root there after New York State abolished slavery in 1827. By 1833 the city's first tenements were built in the same vicinity to house newly arrived Irish and then German immigrants, followed in the 1880s by an influx of newcomers from Italy and various Eastern European countries, including large numbers of Jews.¹

By the early years of the twentieth century, the Lower East Side's enclave of Catholic Italian immigrants found themselves marginalized within the district's parishes, then heavily dominated by the earlier-arrived Irish majority. This friction led to the establishment of newer Italian-controlled parishes, where such practices as street fairs celebrating the annual feasts of patron saints conformed to the traditions of the peasant villages of Italy.²

In this recollected scene, John Costanza has depicted the annual August street fair held to honor Santa Lucia until the 1950s, when the local Italian population was depleted by the exodus of younger generations to metropolitan suburbia. Beneath multi-colored lights strung across the street, stalls and a truck arrayed along the sidewalks dispense various edible treats. A nearby storefront displays a brightly illuminated image of Santa Lucia. Apartment dwellers of diverse ages observe the activity from the open windows and fire escapes, while enjoying the music of a live band.³

Costanza lived with his family in Little Italy until his induction into the army at the start of World War II. During the 1930s he had studied art with Edward Glannon in classes sponsored by the WPA at the Gramercy Boys' Club. After the war he took advantage of the GI Bill to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Temple University's Tyler School of Fine Arts and then studied with Thomas Hart Benton at the New York Art Students League. Later he pursued an interest in ceramics at Alfred University. Many of Costanza's colorful, animated paintings, including Kay the Tailor (acc. no. 99.8.1), a piece in the Museum's collection depicting a local business in the same neighborhood during the 1950s, are based on memories of his years spent on the Lower East Side.

Notes:

1 Kenneth T. Jackson, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York City (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), p. 696.

2 Donald Tricarico, The Italians of Greenwich Village: The Social Structure and Transformation of an Ethnic Community (Staten Island: Staten Island Center for Migration Studies, 1984), pp. 1 -3, 51, 54.

3 Celebrations such as the Santa Lucia festival have been described as "vibrant expressions of New York's communities . . . [which display] . . . ethnicity, faith, artistry, humor and fun . . . [and reaffirm] ties to the past," in the pamphlet Celebration City!: A Sampling of New York City's Cultural Festivals and Parades (New York: City Lore, 1997).


Italian Festa (also exhibited as La Festa di Santa Lucia), c. 1960 (depicting c. 1930) John Costanza (b. 1924) Oil on masonite, 20 ´ 23G Signed lower right: J. Costanza Gift of the artist, 96.190
The setting of this painting done from memory has been identified as East 12th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, in the heart of New York's Lower East Side. The neighborhood, which has been home to wave after wave of immigrants representing a patchwork of nationalities, incorporates Chinatown, Little Italy, Tompkins Square, Astor Place, and Knickerbocker Village (a 1,600-unit housing development completed in 1934). As early as 1644, freed black slaves were given plots to farm in the area, forming the nucleus for the larger African American community that would take root there after New York State abolished slavery in 1827. By 1833 the city's first tenements were built in the same vicinity to house newly arrived Irish and then German immigrants, followed in the 1880s by an influx of newcomers from Italy and various Eastern European countries, including large numbers of Jews.¹ By the early years of the twentieth century, the Lower East Side's enclave of Catholic Italian immigrants found themselves marginalized within the district's parishes, then heavily dominated by the earlier-arrived Irish majority. This friction led to the establishment of newer Italian-controlled parishes, where such practices as street fairs celebrating the annual feasts of patron saints conformed to the traditions of the peasant villages of Italy.² In this recollected scene, John Costanza has depicted the annual August street fair held to honor Santa Lucia until the 1950s, when the local Italian population was depleted by the exodus of younger generations to metropolitan suburbia. Beneath multi-colored lights strung across the street, stalls and a truck arrayed along the sidewalks dispense various edible treats. A nearby storefront displays a brightly illuminated image of Santa Lucia. Apartment dwellers of diverse ages observe the activity from the open windows and fire escapes, while enjoying the music of a live band.³ Costanza lived with his family in Little Italy until his induction into the army at the start of World War II. During the 1930s he had studied art with Edward Glannon in classes sponsored by the WPA at the Gramercy Boys' Club. After the war he took advantage of the GI Bill to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Temple University's Tyler School of Fine Arts and then studied with Thomas Hart Benton at the New York Art Students League. Later he pursued an interest in ceramics at Alfred University. Many of Costanza's colorful, animated paintings, including Kay the Tailor (acc. no. 99.8.1), a piece in the Museum's collection depicting a local business in the same neighborhood during the 1950s, are based on memories of his years spent on the Lower East Side. Notes: 1 Kenneth T. Jackson, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York City (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), p. 696. 2 Donald Tricarico, The Italians of Greenwich Village: The Social Structure and Transformation of an Ethnic Community (Staten Island: Staten Island Center for Migration Studies, 1984), pp. 1 -3, 51, 54. 3 Celebrations such as the Santa Lucia festival have been described as "vibrant expressions of New York's communities . . . [which display] . . . ethnicity, faith, artistry, humor and fun . . . [and reaffirm] ties to the past," in the pamphlet Celebration City!: A Sampling of New York City's Cultural Festivals and Parades (New York: City Lore, 1997).