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.
Tijuca #10 - High Relief Aluminum Abstract Painting, 1978
By Frank Stella
Located in Palm Desert, CA
'Tijuca #10' (1978) is an exceptional large-scale relief painting that marks a pivotal moment in Frank Stella’s evolution from Minimalist restraint to the bold, three-dimensional max...
Metal
$125,000
K.52
By Frank Stella
Located in London, GB
Frank Stella K.52 2006 Stainless steel tubing and cast aluminium 40.6 x 40.6 x 26.7 cms (16 x 16 x 10 1/2 ins) FS10201 K Series The series is based on the Italian composer Domenico...
Stainless Steel
$5,370
H 48 in W 67 in
My Joyful Heart - Lively Colorful Abstract 3-D Painted Weaving
By Shiri Phillips
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Impasto-painted strokes of bright colors are the framework of artist Shiri Phillips’ abstract artworks. Her paintings are flooded with texture through the layering of acrylic paint i...
Wire
$42,000
H 120 in W 72 in D 68 in
Equilibre Oblique 2/10 - monumental, geometric abstract, steel outdoor sculpture
By Philippe Pallafray
Located in Bloomfield, ON
As a young artist, Philippe Pallafray was inspired by sculpture masters and years later his dynamic contemporary sculptures are collected in both Canada and the United States. The Qu...
Stainless Steel
$1,600
H 20.13 in W 22 in
Handmade Paper Collage Sculpture Art Assemblage with String Nancy Genn Modernist
By Nancy Genn
Located in Surfside, FL
Nancy Genn, American (b. 1929) Marshfield 25 (1977) Handmade paper collage Hand signed verso Dimensions: 20 1/8 x 22 inches Utilizing what is now known as the 'Genn Method,' Nancy Ge...
Mixed Media, Handmade Paper
$7,500
H 71 in W 21 in D 21 in
Huge Dorothy Gillespie Colorful Abstract Expressionist Enamel Painted Sculpture
By Dorothy Gillespie
Located in Surfside, FL
Dorothy Gillespie (1920 – 2012) Ribboned Image X 2001 Metal Ribbon Sculpture, Enamel on Aluminum with colorful striped green ribbons. Dimensions...
Metal, Enamel
$1,472
H 29.93 in W 29.93 in D 1.58 in
Golden branch on a mint green background. 3D textured.
By Svetlana Saratova
Located in Zofingen, AG
The painting, created on a round plywood canvas, is a unique combination of sculpture and painting. The upper part of the artwork is adorned with a hand-painted botanical pattern usi...
Mixed Media, Wood Panel
$278
H 8 in W 8 in
Forces of Nature 20 - Rich Textured Abstract Minimalist Beige Canvas Painting
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Len Klikunas paints minimalist artworks to modify experienced reality through visual perception. The Blocks series is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and scu...
Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media
$9,000
H 23 in W 30 in D 3 in
3-part painting construction by Black African American artist, w/ found objects
By Richard J. Watson
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an 3-part painting / construction (assemblage) created from acrylic paint, wood, glass, and found objects. It includes several historic photograph of figures as well as many scenes from Black African American cultural history. Each piece measures 23" x 7.75" x 2.5", and they can be hung close together or far apart, depending on the buyer's preference. All pieces are wired with the appropriate hanging hardware and are ready to install, no additional framing needed. PROVENANCE: Exhibited in "Portals + Revelations: Richard J. Watson," the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Oct 2021 - Mar 2022. "Most of my works are supported by memories of the past and suggested realities. Issues of social politics, ancestral references, and astral projections are presented with fragmented elements of 'real life' collaged and collapsed, as dreams are prone to do. If connections are made, all the better. I feel that life should remind us of our dreams." - Richard J. Watson Richard J. Watson is an icon in the Philadelphia art world. Much of his work relates to his experiences as a Black African American man. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1968), has taught at his alma mater, and has served in the Exhibitions Department at the African American Museum in Philadelphia since the 1980s. He has been exhibiting his work for decades, and has an extensive bibliography. His work is held in the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; the Uniworld Corporation; Sony; the Federal Reserve Bank; the City of Philadelphia; Sprint; the Church of the Advocate; the poet Dr. Sonia Sanchez; and the Woodmere Museum...
Found Objects, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Glass, Wood
$35,000
H 141 in W 70 in D 32 in
Convergence - abstract, geometric, corten and stainless steel outdoor sculpture
By Claude Millette
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary abstract outdoor sculpture is forged from steel. The dynamic, eclectic sculptural work of Quebec artist Claude Millette is highly regarded for its innovation in bo...
Stainless Steel, Steel
$30,000
H 73 in W 32 in D 6 in
"Wall Strikes II" Abstract, Cast Metal Wall Sculpture by John Ruppert
By John Ruppert
Located in New York, NY
"Wall Strikes" by John Ruppert Cast bronze, Stainless Steel, Copper, Iron, from a fragment of a tree struck by lightning Edition of 3 Over the past 35 years, John Ruppert has been w...
Metal, Bronze, Copper, Stainless Steel, Iron
$3,887
H 15.75 in W 15.75 in D 9.85 in
Blue Orbit by Kuno Vollet - Contemporary Abstract Circular Blue Steel sculpture
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
Artist: Kuno Vollet Title: Blue Orbit Materials: Stainless Steel Size: 40cm x 40 cm x 25 cm Variation of sculptures all individual About the Gallery: Folly and Muse was establi...
Stainless Steel
$5,000
H 30 in W 10 in D 10 in
Monochromatic Variant Navy - sculpture, painted stainless steel
By Viktor Mitic
Located in Bloomfield, ON
"Inspired by the abstract images of paint splatters on his studio floor, Viktor Mitic created this dynamic tabletop sculpture. Monochromatic Variant’s form was influenced by photos a...
Stainless Steel
$2,000
H 24 in W 14 in D 6 in
Biography of a Drive-By: wall sculpture by Black African-American artist
By Richard J. Watson
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is a two-part wall mounted painting / sculpture this integrates found objects and photographs into an acrylic painting on the top, and a wooden shelf with bullet casings and coins below. This is a conceptual, abstract work of art that is a powerful homage to lives lost through calculated gun violence in American cites. signed by the artist. PROVENANCE: Exhibited in "Portals + Revelations: Richard J. Watson," the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Oct 2021 - Mar 2022. "Most of my works are supported by memories of the past and suggested realities. Issues of social politics, ancestral references, and astral projections are presented with fragmented elements...
Acrylic, Panel, Found Objects, Mixed Media
Frank Stella "Vortex Engraving" Charger, 2000
By Frank Stella
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Perhaps Stella's most radical act was the change of style he undertook in the late 1970's shifting from flat geometric abstraction to a dynamic almost "baroque" layering of...
Other Medium