The Fossil Whale, State 1 (huge signed etching and aquatint), 1991
Frank Stella

Print : aquatint, etching, carborundum

167.6 x 132.1 x 0.3 cm 66 x 52 x 0.1 inch

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About the artwork

Type

Numbered and limited to 18 copies

Signature

Hand-signed by artist

Authenticity

Sold with certificate of Authenticity from the gallery

Invoice from the gallery


Dimensions cm inch

167.6 x 132.1 x 0.3 cm 66 x 52 x 0.1 inch Height x Width x Depth

Framing

Not framed


Artwork sold in perfect condition

Artwork location: United States

From The Moby Dick Engravings. Etching and aquatint with carborundum and relief on White Wove Handmade TGL paper. Hand signed and dated lower front by Frank Stella. Hand numbered 10/18 lower front (there were also 6 artist's proofs). Published by Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco.

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About the Artist: Frank Stella is an American artist best known for his use of geometric patterns and shapes in creating both paintings and sculptures. Arguably one of the most influential living American artists, Stella's works utilize the formal properties of shape, color, and composition to explore non-literary narratives, as seen in his work Harrar II (1967) from the Protractor series. “Abstraction didn't have to be limited to a kind of rectilinear geometry or even a simple curve geometry. It could have a geometry that had a narrative impact. In other words, you could tell a story with the shapes," he explained. “It wouldn't be a literal story, but the shapes and the interaction of the shapes and colors would give you a narrative sense. You could have a sense of an abstract piece flowing along and being part of an action or activity." Born on May 12, 1936 in Malden, MA, Stella went on to study history at Princeton University before moving to New York in 1958. Having moved to the city, Stella was immersed in the heyday Abstract Expressionism, but it was the work of Jasper Johns that inspired Stella's Black Paintings of 1958-1960. These flatly painted, austere works, helped open up the doors to Minimalism. Through the following decades, Stella gained traction in the art world and in 1970 he became the youngest artist ever to be granted a solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art. He continued to work in New York, NY and commuted to his studio in Rock Tavern, New York. Today, Stella's works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London, among others. Frank Stella passed on May 4, 2024.

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Frank Stella, The Fossil Whale, State 1 (huge signed etching and aquatint)
United States  • 1936

Presentation

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.

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