Frank StellaShards V1982
1982
About the Item
- Creator:Frank Stella (1936, American)
- Creation Year:1982
- Dimensions:Height: 39.75 in (100.97 cm)Width: 45.25 in (114.94 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU128525175252
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 PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Untitled (SF-355)By Sam FrancisLocated in New York, NYSigned and numbered in pencilCategory
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Two Hearts at SunsetBy Jim DineLocated in New York, NYSigned, dated, and numbered in white pencil Color lithograph on Rives BFK paper 19 x 25.5 inches Edition 62 of 200Category
Early 2000s Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- SeahorseBy Alexander CalderLocated in New York, NYSeahorse, 1975 Signed and numbered in pencil Color lithograph 29.5 x 21.25 inches Edition 100 of 125Category
1970s Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Galactic SystemBy Alexander CalderLocated in New York, NYGalactic System, 1974 Signed and numbered Color lithograph on Arches paper, full sheet 20.375 x 28.25 inches Edition 75 of 100Category
1970s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Tribal SignBy Helen FrankenthalerLocated in New York, NYTribal Sign, 1987 Signed and dated in pencil with publisher's blindstamp Eleven color lithograph on mauve TGL handmade paper Sheet: 24 x 18.5 inches Frame: 33 x 27 inches Edition 25 ...Category
1980s Abstract Prints
MaterialsColor, Lithograph
- Untitled (SF-315)By Sam FrancisLocated in New York, NYLithograph on Rives BFK paper Frame: 44 x 35.75 in. Signed and numbered in pencil Image drawn with water tusche directly on plates Lembark 271Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Telegelb - original Otto Piene color seriograph ZERO art green flower on yellowBy Otto PieneLocated in Hamburg, DE"Telegelb" is an original limited-edition seriagraph from German artist Otto Piene. It is from his series "Leuchtfarben" (fluorescent colors) from 1969. It is originally signed and...Category
1960s Kinetic Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Cosmos - abstract contemporary minimalist artwork by Günther Uecker ZEROLocated in Hamburg, DE"Kosmos 06" is an original, hand-signed lithograph on hand-made paper from 2003 by internationally acclaimed German ZERO group artist Günther Uecker. E...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsHandmade Paper, Lithograph
- Pink SunshineBy Beatriz MilhazesLocated in Bristol, GBLithograph Edition of 100 47.5 x 58 cm (18.7 x 22.8 in) Signed and numbered Mint. Sold with the COA issued by Museum In Progress Our mission is to connect art collectors to opportun...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Untitled abstract and colourful limited edition lithograph by MiroBy Joan MiróLocated in ludlow, GBoriginally in a catalogue and consequently there is slight evidence of a fold in the centre. We have had this ironed by our restorer so it is barely perceptible. We bought a collecti...Category
20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Untitled abstract and colourful limited edition lithograph by MiroBy Joan MiróLocated in ludlow, GBThis is a limited edition lithograph that is untitled. It was originally in a catalogue and consequently there is slight evidence of a fold in the centre. We have had this ironed by ...Category
20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Untitled Limited Edition Lithograph Colourful, Abstract image - FramedBy Joan MiróLocated in ludlow, GBThis is a limited edition lithograph that is untitled. It was originally in a catalogue and consequently there is slight evidence of a fold in the centre. We have had this ironed b...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph