Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Holiday House
(pub. 11.7.2023)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Anne Broyles
Illustrator: Victoria Tentler-Krylov
Character: Ralph Fasanella
Overview:
" When dared to jump, Ralph always took the dare. So begins this beautiful tribute to a singular artist and his tireless efforts to honor and celebrate immigrant and working-class communities through his paintings.
Born in 1914 New York City to Italian immigrants, Ralph’s youth was one of dress factories, ice deliveries, union meetings, and Momma’s stories of the Bread & Roses Strike around the dinner table. By teaching himself how to paint, Ralph discovered a new way to reach working people: he would depict their lives, their work, and American history with electric color at a grand scale.
Focusing on themes of social justice, immigrant rights, labor rights, and the dignity of working people, I’m Gonna Paint inspires to give a new generation the confidence to continue the fight for better working conditions."
Tantalizing taste:
"As a kid, Ralph taught himself to read.
As an adult, he taught himself to paint.
He visited museums to study works by famous artists.
He filled giant canvases with precise details in bold colors that rippled out, like when a pebble is thrown into a pond. Memories of his old neighborhoods, his father's ice wagon, the Protectory, and the dress shop where Mama used to work were transformed into paintings.
Ralph also referenced current events: Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington, President Kennedy's assassination ,and many more.
He painted ordinary people, city streets, everyday working life."
And something more: The More About Ralph section includes his quotes:
"Any good painting is a social statement. I just feel that art and politics can't be separated ."
"I have been a working man and a union man all my life. My paintings celebrate that. They're about working people: what they do, where they go, and what their hopes and dreams are."
"You want to be smart, go to the library."
"I never did a painting for myself. I was always trying to uplift other people, to show them who they are and where they came from… My job is not only to record American history, but to record the feelings of American workers as honestly as possible."
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