Frank Stella

Frank Stella is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker who is known for his innovative and influential works in the fields of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He was born in 1936 in Malden, Massachusetts, to Italian-American parents. He studied painting at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and history at Princeton University. He moved to New York City in the late 1950s and began to create abstract paintings that emphasized the flatness and objecthood of the canvas, using geometric shapes, symmetrical patterns, and monochromatic or metallic colors. His early works, such as The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, II (1959), were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and established his reputation as a leading figure of the minimalist art movement. In the 1960s, he experimented with irregularly shaped canvases and more complex and colorful compositions, inspired by his travels to the Middle East and other places. His Protractor series (1967–71), for example, featured intersecting circles and arcs within square borders. In the 1970s, he began to introduce relief and sculptural elements into his paintings, creating what he called “maximalist” works that explored depth, texture, and movement. He also designed sets and costumes for dance performances by Merce Cunningham and others. In the 1980s, he embarked on a major project based on Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick, producing a series of prints, paintings, and sculptures that reflected his interest in literature and mythology. He continued to work in various media and styles throughout his career, creating large-scale installations, architectural projects, and abstract expressionist works. He received numerous awards and honors for his artistic achievements, including the National Medal of Arts in 2009. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and original artists of the 20th century.