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Frank Stella Art

American, 1936-2024

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.

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Artist: Frank Stella
Dealer: Caviar20
Fortin de las Flores
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
One interesting characteristic of many of Frank Stella's early prints is their trompe d'oeil effect. This is one of Stella's earliest prints and was done on English vellum graph pa...
Category

1960s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

Materials

Screen

"Gezira" from Black Series II USA, 1967, Lithograph
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is pleased to be offering this exceptional example of Frank Stella's work, an important output from his crucial debut year as a printmaker. Working at Gemini G.E.L. (one of the top American printing studios) Stella learned from his two previous groups of prints: "Star of Persia...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Frank Stella Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Furg, " Lithograph and screenprint, USA, 1975, Signed by artist
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is proud to be offering this distinctive Frank Stella work, one of the most sought-after pieces from the "Merce Cunningham" portfolio. Cunningham was a highly-decorated Am...
Category

1970s Abstract Frank Stella Art

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

Six Mile Bottom
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
This fantastic minimal and mesmerizing Frank Stella print relates to one his most famous works, now in the permanent collection of the Tate Modern (London). The hypnotic form was fi...
Category

1970s Op Art Frank Stella Art

Materials

Lithograph

Conway
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
This is another fine example from Frank Stella's highly desirable "Eccentric Polygons" series. These works are noted for their dynamic forms where flat shapes were being pushed or c...
Category

1970s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

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1980s Abstract Expressionist Frank Stella Art

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Previously Available Items
Fortin de las Flores
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
One interesting characteristic of many of Frank Stella's early prints is their trompe d'oeil effect. This is one of Stella's earliest prints and was done on English vellum graph pa...
Category

1960s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

Materials

Screen

"Gezira" from Black Series II USA, 1967, Lithograph
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is pleased to be offering this exceptional example of Frank Stella's work, an important output from his crucial debut year as a printmaker. Working at Gemini G.E.L. (one of the top American printing studios) Stella learned from his two previous groups of prints: "Star of Persia...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Frank Stella Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Furg, " Lithograph and screenprint, USA, 1975, Signed by artist
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is proud to be offering this distinctive Frank Stella work, one of the most sought-after pieces from the "Merce Cunningham" portfolio. Cunningham was a highly-decorated Am...
Category

1970s Abstract Frank Stella Art

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Lithograph, Screen

Referendum 70
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Frank Stella, like many artists of his generation, was politically active and engaged. Stella participated in several fundraising efforts where he donated an entire edition to a wor...
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1970s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

Materials

Screen

Frank Stella "Furg"
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is proud to be offering this distinctive Frank Stella work, one of the most sought-after pieces from the "Merce Cunningham" portfolio. Cunningham was a highly-decorated Am...
Category

1970s Abstract Frank Stella Art

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

Clinton Plaza
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is proud to be offering this exceptional example of Frank Stella's work. This work “Clinton Plaza” is from Stella's "Black Series I", which includes nine lithographs based o...
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1960s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

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Les Indes III
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
The title of this series of Frank Stella lithographs, "Les Indes Gallantes" references a French opera-ballet composed in the 17th century. The ...
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1970s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

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Lithograph

Hampton Roads
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is excited to be offering this paradigm of Frank Stella's work; an example from his legendary "Benjamin Moore" series. Stella is heralded as the visionary artist that prop...
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1970s Abstract Frank Stella Art

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Sunapee
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Frank Stella created the "Eccentric Polygons" series in 1974. It is one of his last body of prints before he transitions to the exuberant, Baroque-busy, elaborate style that define...
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1970s Abstract Expressionist Frank Stella Art

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Lithograph, Screen

Frank Stella "Eccentric Polygon"
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 is pleased to be offering another dynamic example of Frank Stella's iconic "Eccentric Polygons" Created in 1974, it is one of his last ser...
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1970s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

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Screen, Lithograph

Empress of India II
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Frank Stella began printmaking in 1967.  "Empress of India II", one of his largest and most iconic early prints created in 1968. The "V Series" works, creat...
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1960s Abstract Expressionist Frank Stella Art

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Varnish, Lithograph

Sanbornville, Eccentric Polygons
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
We are pleased to be offering another dynamic example of Frank Stella's iconic "Eccentric Polygons". Created in 1974, it is one of his last series...
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1970s Abstract Geometric Frank Stella Art

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Frank Stella art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Frank Stella art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, green, yellow and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Frank Stella in lithograph, screen print, mixed media and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Frank Stella art, so small editions measuring 3 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Zao Wou-Ki, Karel Appel, and Louisa Chase. Frank Stella art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $350 and tops out at $125,000, while the average work can sell for $10,500.

Artists Similar to Frank Stella

Questions About Frank Stella Art
  • 1stDibs ExpertMay 7, 2024
    Frank Stella (1936–2024) made paintings, prints and sculptures. One of the central figures in postwar American art, Stella was a proponent of minimalism and non-representational abstraction. His famous works include Sinjerli Variation IV, Harran II and his “Eccentric Polygon” series.

    Stella burst onto the scene barely out of college with his “Black Paintings,” sober geometric studies composed of wide black stripes separated by chalky white lines. These won him inclusion in “16 Americans,” the famed 1959–60 group show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He stayed at the forefront of art, working with famed gallerist Leo Castelli, relentlessly pursuing geometric form and never repeating himself. 

    Find a collection of Frank Stella art for sale on 1stDibs.

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