Frank StellaMerce Cunningham & Dance Company Latin American Tour1968
1968
About the Item
- Creator:Frank Stella (1936, American)
- Creation Year:1968
- Dimensions:Height: 27 in (68.58 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)Depth: 0.75 in (1.91 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:The print itself is in very good condition with no apparent issues; it is permanently affixed to black paperboard of about 3/4 inch thickness.
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1745213426172
Frank Stella
Frank Stella was one of the central figures in postwar American art. A proponent of minimalism and non-representational abstraction, Stella was a painter, printmaker and sculptor.
A native of Massachusetts, Stella attended Phillips Academy in Andover and earned a BA from Princeton, where he studied art and color theory with Josef Albers and Hans Hofmann. Stella frequented New York galleries as a student and was intrigued by the work of Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, both of whom were at the height of their creative powers in the late 1950s.
After moving to New York in 1958, Stella gravitated toward the geometric abstraction and restrained painting style of Barnett Newman and Jasper Johns.
Johns’s flat, graphic images of common objects such as targets and flags prompt viewers to question the essential nature of representation and whether these pictures are really paintings or simply new iterations of the items themselves. Stella pushed Johns’s reasoning further, considering paintings on canvas as objects in their own right, like sculptures, rather than representations. This led him to reject certain formal conventions, eschewing sketches and often using nontraditional materials, like house paint.
In 1959, Stella created his “Black Paintings,” series, in which bands of black paint are separated by thin, precise stripes of bare canvas. At a time when contemporary painting was all about wild gestures, thick paint and formal abandon, these pieces created a sensation. That same year, Stella's work was included in the exhibition "Sixteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he joined the roster of artists represented by Leo Castelli Gallery. In 1960, he began introducing color into his work and using unconventionally shaped canvases to complement his compositions.
In his “Eccentric Polygon” series, from 1965 and ‘66, Stella embraces asymmetry and bold color, creating forms delineated by painted fields and by the edges of the canvas. This series was followed by the 1967–70 “Protractor” series, characterized by colorful circles and arcs. Named after the ancient cities whose circular plans Stella had noticed while traveling in the Middle East during the 1960s, these works usually comprised several canvases set flush against one another so that the geometric figures in each section came together in a larger, more complex whole.
Also in the mid-1960s, Stella started exploring printmaking, initially working with Kenneth Tyler, of Gemini G.E.L., and later installing printing equipment in his own studio. In 1968, he created the “V” series of lithographs, which included the print Quathlamba I. Following a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1970, Stella began working in three dimensions, adding relief elements to paintings, which could almost be considered wall-mounted sculptures.
Stella’s 1970–73 “Polish Village” series was inspired by documentary photos and architectural drawings of Polish synagogues that had been destroyed by Nazis during World War II. The resulting works — composed primarily of paint and cloth on plywood — are more rugged and less polished than his previous series.
Herman Melville's Moby Dick was Stella's muse for a series of three- dimensional works he created in the 1980s in which waveforms, architectural elements and Platonic solids play a prominent role. During this period, Stella embraced a new, exuberant style that is exemplified in "La Scienza della Fiacca."
In 1997, the artist oversaw the creation of the Stella Project, a 5,000-square-foot work inside the Moores Opera House at the University of Houston. A large free-standing sculpture by Stella stands outside the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Stella’s work is in the collections of numerous important museums around the world, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Menil Collection, in Houston; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, in Washington, D.C.; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in 2009, and was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture by the International Sculpture Center in 2011.
Find original Frank Stella art for sale on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Vintage Museum Press Kit (National Gallery, LACMA & Dallas Museum)By Roy LichtensteinLocated in New York, NYRoy Lichtenstein Vintage Museum Press Kit (National Gallery, LACMA & Dallas Museum), 1994 -1995 Offset Lithograph brochures, press releases, magazines and a bookmark 12 x 9 inches Un...Category
1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Dream of William Burroughs (rare 1970s limited edition lithograph) for Earth DayBy Robert RauschenbergLocated in New York, NYROBERT RAUSCHENBERG Dream of William Burroughs, 1972 Offset lithograph 34 1/2 × 24 inches Edition 103/150 Signed, dated and numbered in black marker on the front Unframed Wonderful early 1970s print Words appearing in a dream of William Burroughs Co-published by Automation House and E.A.T., produced by Local One, Amalgamated Lithographers of America, New York Signed and numbered 103/150 in black marker This work is registered with the Robert Rauschenberg archives, reference number: RRF 72.E001 Text reads: THEY DID NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE TECHNIQUE. IN A VERY SHORT TIME THEY NEARLY WRECKED THE PLANET. More information about this work from the Rauschenberg Foundation: Lithopinion 26, the current affairs and graphic arts journal, dedicated its summer 1972 edition to the subject of “Our Transportation Mess.” Among the contributors were Theodore Kheel, who was a lawyer, leading labor mediator and arbitrator, as well as an environmentalist, and Senator Edward Kennedy. Kheel commissioned artists such as Romare Bearden, Christo, and Rauschenberg, his friend and client, to address the transportation system in the United States. Rauschenberg’s contribution was inspired by a dream that William Burroughs, the Beat writer, had described to him, and which resulted in the lithograph Dream of William Burroughs (1972) published by Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.). Surrounded by images of various modes of transportation, the lithograph includes the words: “They did not fully understand the technique / in a very short time they nearly wrecked the planet.” As an E.A.T. board member, Kheel understood, like Rauschenberg, that environmentalism and technology were not conflicting views but symbiotic relationships. In Lithopinion 26, E.A.T. stated that it “supports technology when it tries to help people achieve their human potentiality [and] criticizes it when it doesn’t.” About Robert Rauschenberg: Robert Rauschenberg ushered in a new era of postwar American art in the wake of Abstract Expressionism. His approach, along with that of his contemporary Jasper Johns, was sometimes termed “Neo-Dada,” due to its relation to both European forebears and the physical gestures of American Abstract Expressionists. His Combine works (1954 to early 1960s) blurred the distinctions between painting and sculpture, as their flat surfaces were augmented with discarded materials and appropriated images. Rauschenberg also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking, and performance, the last of which resulted in a number of collaborations with choreographers, including Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Trisha Brown. Rauschenberg was among the founding members of the innovative group Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) in 1966, and in 1984 he established the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) to bring art to communities around the world, saying, “I feel strong in my beliefs, based on my varied and widely traveled collaborations, that a one-to-one contact through art contains potent peaceful powers, and is the most non-elitist way to share exotic and common information, seducing us into creative mutual understandings for the benefit of all.” Rauschenberg’s nontraditional art practice and creative energy generated an enduring influence that impacted generations of artists, as noted by art historian Branden W. Joseph: “Rauschenberg’s was a position with which artists across the board were confronted and to which they almost necessarily had to respond. … Rauschenberg’s work served as a stimulus, an impetus and a challenge.” Robert Rauschenberg was born in 1925, in Port Arthur, Texas and died on Captiva Island, Florida in 2008. He has had numerous exhibitions worldwide, including “Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1997, traveled to Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum Ludwig, Cologne and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, through 1999); “Combines,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2005, traveled to Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm in 2007); “Cardboards and Related Pieces,” Menil Collection, Houston (2007); “Traveling ‘70–‘76,” Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto (2008, traveled to Haus der Kunst, Munich, and Madre, Naples in 2009); “Gluts,” The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (2009, traveled to The Tinguely Museum, Basel, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Villa e Collezione Panza, Varese in 2010); and “Botanical Vaudeville,” Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (2011). Gagosian Gallery first exhibited Robert Rauschenberg’s work in 1986. About William Burroughs William S. Burroughs was a Beat Generation writer known for his startling, nontraditional accounts of drug culture...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsOffset, Permanent Marker, Lithograph
- Limited Ed. St. Louis Art museum poster Hand Signed & dated by Roy LichtensteinBy Roy LichtensteinLocated in New York, NYRoy Lichtenstein 1970-1980 (Hand Signed and dated by Roy Lichtenstein), 1981 Offset lithograph. Hand signed and dated in ink Hand-signed by artist, Hand signed and dated in ink on th...Category
1980s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsInk, Lithograph, Offset, Pencil, Graphite
- Leo Castelli Gallery poster (Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, John Chamberlain)Located in New York, NYRare collectors item: Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, John Chamberlain New Work, Leo Castelli poster, 1967 Offset lithograph poster invitation with original folds, addressee and post...Category
1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- Jasper Johns at Ileana Sonnabend (rare early mid century modern European poster)By Jasper JohnsLocated in New York, NYJasper Johns Jasper Johns at Ileana Sonnabend, 1962 Offset Lithograph exhibition poster/invitation Plate signed on the front 31 3/4 × 21 inches Unframed This rare, collectible vintage poster...Category
1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsOffset
- ART (Sheehan, 80) iconic 1970s geometric abstraction lt ed s/n for Colby CollegeBy Robert IndianaLocated in New York, NYRobert Indiana Colby ART (Sheehan, 80), 1973 Silkscreen in Colors on White Wove Paper Pencil signed and numbered 69/100 on the front with artist's copyright @Robert Indiana lower right front Published by Robert Indiana with copyright; Printed by Seri-Arts, Inc. Vintage metal frame included Classic early 1970s work. There was a time, we are told, when every prestigious collector in Germany would have an edition of Robert Indiana's iconic ART print prominently hanging in their home. This is an uncommon and desirable Robert Indiana piece from the early 1970s. Boldly signed in graphite on the recto (front), numbered and bearing the artist's copyright: @ Robert Indiana 1973...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen, Pencil
- The Fan and its Surroundings, from the Global Editions SeriesBy Ed RuschaLocated in London, GBLithograph on Rives BFK paper, torn and deckle edgesCategory
Late 20th Century Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Canadian Post Modern Pop Art Lithograph Vintage Poster Memphis Galerie MaeghtBy Jean-Paul RiopelleLocated in Surfside, FLVintage gallery exhibition poster. The Galerie Maeght is a gallery of modern art in Paris, France, and Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The gallery was founded in 1936 in Cannes. The Pa...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Takashi Murakami 'Superflat' exhibition poster (vintage Takashi Murakami)By Takashi MurakamiLocated in NEW YORK, NYTakashi Murakami Superflat Exhibition Poster 1999: Rare 1990s exhibit poster designed by Murakami and published by Marianne Boesky Gallery New York...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Bicentennial, by Roy LichtensteinBy Roy LichtensteinLocated in New York, NYIncluded in America: The Third Century portfolio, Roy Lichtenstein created Bicentennial as an original color lithograph with screenprint in 1975, conceived to celebrate the 200th ann...Category
20th Century Pop Art More Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Screen
- As I Opened Fire Poster, TriptychBy (after) Roy LichtensteinLocated in New York, NYSet of 3 color offset lithographs. The last panel is signed in pencil. Printed by Drukkerij Luii & Co., Amsterdam. Published by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. This is a reproductio...Category
1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsColor, Lithograph, Offset
- Study for Sculpture in the Form of an Inverted Q Above & Below Ground OldenburgBy Claes OldenburgLocated in New York, NYStudy for Sculpture in the Form of an Inverted Q: Above and Below Ground, 1975 Lithograph, soft-ground etching, and aquatint in six colors on cream, thick, slightly textured Rive BFK paper 14 × 11 in. / 35.2 × 28 cm Signed and dated in pencil, lower right, numbered in pencil, lower left. Edition of 100 with 20 AP. Printed by Bill Law, Winston Roeth and Allan Uglow at Petersburg Press...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint, Lithograph
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Get to Know the Artists Who Led the Op Art Movement
In the 1960s and '70s, the hypnotic creations of Op artists went mainstream and influenced the look of pop culture.
Welcome (Back) to the Wild, Wonderful World of Walasse Ting
Americans are rediscovering the globe-trotting painter and poet, who was connected to all sorts of art movements across a long and varied career.