Frank Stella

United States • 1936

  • Artworks
  • Biography
  • Exhibitions
  • Movements

Frank Stella

Print, Bonne Bay, Frank Stella

Bonne Bay

Frank Stella

Print - 96.5 x 177.8 cm Print - 38 x 70 inch

$55,089

Print, Whitney Museum of American Art, 13 January - 13 March 1983, Frank Stella

Whitney Museum of American Art, 13 January - 13 March 1983

Frank Stella

Print - 190 x 132 cm Print - 74.8 x 52 inch

$5,799

Print, Jonah Historically Regarded, from Moby Dick Domes (A. 210), Frank Stella

Jonah Historically Regarded, from Moby Dick Domes (A. 210)

Frank Stella

Print - 186.69 x 134.62 x 15.24 cm Print - 73.5 x 53 x 6 inch

$115,000

Print, Referendum '70, Frank Stella

Referendum '70

Frank Stella

Print - 99.5 x 98 cm Print - 39.2 x 38.6 inch

$31,314

Print, The Pequod Meets the Jeroboam: Her Story from the Moby Dick Series, Frank Stella

The Pequod Meets the Jeroboam: Her Story from the Moby Dick Series

Frank Stella

Print - 177.8 x 165.7 x 0.8 cm Print - 70 x 65.25 x 0.3 inch

Price upon request

Print, Line Up, from Jasper's Dilemma (Axsom 85), Frank Stella

Line Up, from Jasper's Dilemma (Axsom 85)

Frank Stella

Print - 40 x 56 x 0.1 cm Print - 15.7 x 22 x 0 inch

Sold

Print, Sidi Ifni, Frank Stella

Sidi Ifni

Frank Stella

Print - 55.9 x 74.9 x 0.3 cm Print - 22 x 29.5 x 0.1 inch

Sold

Print, Sidi Ifni, Frank Stella

Sidi Ifni

Frank Stella

Print - 55.9 x 74.9 cm Print - 22 x 29.5 inch

Sold

I think decoration is really beautiful. I think that’s what you have to do with painting. You have to decorate.

Biography

Frank Stella was born in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1936. Now, he lives and works in New York. Not only is Stella often considered a pioneer of minimalism, but he is also a central representative of Op Art and shaped canvas. Frank studied Arts at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and History at Princeton University. Stella was influenced by abstract expressionism and artists Pollock and Kline. Later, Stella renounced the expressive use of painting and rejected the lyricism of the movement. He focused on the contrasts between shape and color by painting abnormally-shaped canvases. This led him to break the boundaries of classical geometric work and his paintings evolved into real sculptures from the 1980s onwards. 

Stella's first solo show was in 1960 where he exhibited his "Black paintings" despite having already been shown in NYC's Museum of Modern Art during the "Sixteen Americans" exhibition. These works are the culmination of his reflections on object-painting and marked his break with abstract expressionism. The compositions are defined by the representation of black stripes separated by fine white lines. Again, Stella explores the opposing forms and the absence of color. He uses painting as an end and not as a means of expression or representation. As the minimalist artist, Carl Andre said, "Frank Stella has found it necessary to paint stripes. There is nothing else in his painting. Frank Stella is not interested in expression or sensitivity. He is interested in the necessities of painting... His stripes are the paths of brush on canto These paths lead only into painting". This exhibition marked the starting point of the minimalist movement. 


Stella developed "shaped canvases", where the contour merges with the painted shapes. He experiments with colors: white, black, or multicolored, and media: aluminum, copper, or steel. His compositions are generally in series. In the mid-1970s, there was a turning point in his artistic approach. He began to work in relief, influenced by the Baroque movement. Since the 1980s, sculpting has kept Stella's interest and he has produced almost exclusively sculpture. 


Frank Stella's work has been presented in numerous exhibitions. He is one of the few artists who have been able to attend his own retrospective during his lifetime. In 1970 and then nearly ten years later, exhibitions were dedicated to him at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. His sculpture, "The Prince of Hamburg", was installed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 2001.

Read more

Discover our selections of works by artists

Need help finding your favorite? Consult our selection pages made for you.
Need to know more?
What is Frank Stella’s artistic movement?
The artistic movements of the artists are: Movement Abstract Expressionism, Deconstructivism
When was Frank Stella born?
The year of birth of the artist is: 1936