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Ralph Fasanella Ralph Fasanella was a self-trained artist known for his large, detailed paintings about labor history, urban life, politics, and baseball, subjects he knew from his own life experience. Ralph was born in 1914 in New York City to Italian immigrants. His father was an iceman; his mother was a garment worker who bore six children. Ralph often accompanied his father delivering ice and visited the garment factory where his mother worked. He knew hardship, his own and that of other working people. This was an era of rapid change in industry and of the Great Depression. Fasanella questioned the reasons for the failure of the country and extreme poverty of the people. He learned about labor struggles, worked with several unions and became an organizer. Ralph Fasanella first attempted to draw in 1944, and before long he was painting subject matter he became known for: scenes of city life, parades, baseball, union halls, and people, always scenes of people. Supported by a part-time job at his brother's gas station, he quit his union job to paint. However, he continued to intertwine his art and labor. He regarded his painting as another way to organize for labor and to address social injustice. He wanted his paintings to speak to workers, to give them an appreciation for the labor struggles, and to encourage them to continue to fight to improve their lives. Ralph Fasanella died in 1997, leaving his wife, Eva, and two children.