How Does Frank Stella Create His Art?
Turkish Mambo © Frank Stella 1967
Frank Stella
237 works
Key Takeaways
Frank Stella's artistic journey is defined by his constant innovation and challenge to traditional art forms. From the stark Minimalism of his early Black Paintings, to the vibrant Geometric Abstraction of his Protractor Series, Stella has continually pushed the boundaries of what art can be. By deliberately rejecting emotional expression and narrative content, Stella's work stands as a key influence, and continues to shape contemporary art.
Frank Stella's career is marked by a remarkable evolution in both form and material, transitioning from the minimalist restraint of his early works to the maximalist exuberance of his later career. Throughout his life, Stella’s creations have been defined by an incessant desire to break rules, his focus on the materiality of the canvas, free from emotional expression or narrative content, standing in sharp contrast to the highly expressive Abstract Expressionism that dominated the art world at the time. From his famous Black Paintings to multi-dimensional works, Stella's innovative use of materials, geometry, and industrial processes redefined how art is perceived, created, and experienced.
Early Works: The Minimalist Black Paintings and the Use of Flatness
Rejection of Abstract Expressionism and Emergence of Minimalism
Stella’s Black Paintings (1958-1960) stand as a watershed moment in the history of modern art, marking a radical departure from the dominant trends of Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s, and pushing the boundaries of what painting could represent. These works rejected traditional notions of depth, narrative, and emotional content, instead embracing a flat, two-dimensional surface that focused purely on the material qualities of painting. Stella applied commercial black enamel paint to unprimed canvas, creating uniform, parallel bands of black. This deliberate use of industrial materials and techniques emphasised the mechanical nature of the process, stripping away any sense of personal expression or spontaneity.
The stark geometry of the Black Paintings denied the illusion of depth or space that had long been central to Western painting. Instead, Stella emphasised the two-dimensionality of the canvas, challenging viewers to engage with the work on its own terms rather than searching for deeper meaning. This radical approach is encapsulated in Stella’s famous dictum, “What you see is what you see,” a statement that underscored his commitment to creating art that was purely objective, devoid of metaphor or symbolism. In this way, the Black Paintings can be understood as a direct response to the highly emotional, gestural brushwork of Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, whose works were imbued with psychological intensity and subjective meaning. By contrast, Stella’s paintings were stripped of narrative or personal content, focusing solely on order, form, and repetition.
Legacy and Influence
The simplicity and repetition of Stella’s geometric bands prefigured the emergence of Minimalism in the 1960s, an art movement that sought to strip down visual art to its most fundamental elements. By focusing on the materiality and flatness of the painting, Stella helped pave the way for artists like Donald Judd and Dan Flavin, who similarly sought to reduce art to its essential forms. The Black Paintings, therefore, stand at the crossroads between the late-modernist tendencies of Abstract Expressionism, and the nascent Minimalist movement, embodying a shift towards a new understanding of abstraction that was more less concerned with emotional content.
At the time of their creation, the Black Paintings were seen as a bold and revolutionary statement, placing Stella at the forefront of a new generation of artists who were pushing the boundaries of abstraction in innovative ways. These works remain some of the most influential and widely studied examples of post-war art, their stark simplicity continuing to inspire and challenge artists and viewers alike. By rejecting the emotive brushwork and narrative content of his predecessors, Stella opened up new possibilities for abstraction, emphasising the idea that painting could exist solely as an object, without any need for illusion or metaphor.
Shaped Canvases: Breaking the Boundaries of Traditional Formats
Stella's exploration of shaped canvases in the 1960s marked a profound departure from the conventional rectangular formats that had long defined Western painting. By rejecting the flat, rectilinear surface, Stella transformed the canvas itself into a dynamic part of the artwork. These shaped canvases, often irregular in form, challenged the viewer's preconceived notions about what a painting could be, blending the boundaries between painting and sculpture. Rather than treating the canvas as a neutral ground on which the subject was imposed, Stella’s shaped canvases became integral to the composition, with the geometry of the frame determining the movement and flow of the painted forms within.
This innovation was part of a broader shift in Stella’s work, where he sought to minimise illusion and emphasise the materiality of painting. Influenced by Minimalism, Stella aimed to create art that was self-referential, emphasising form and structure over content. The shaped canvas allowed him to emphasise the painting’s objecthood, as it no longer suggested a window into another world but rather existed in the same physical space as the viewer. His shaped canvases opened up new possibilities for the interaction between form, space, and colour, fundamentally altering the relationship between the artwork and its environment.
Empress of India (1965)
One of the most iconic examples of Stella’s shaped canvases is Empress of India (1965), a seminal work that exemplifies his radical approach to form and composition during this period. This painting is notable for its irregular, zigzagging shape, deviating sharply from the traditional rectangular format. Empress of India is painted in a neutral palette, with alternating stripes that intensify the sense of movement across the surface. This minimalist statement was emblematic of his desire to strip painting of narrative content, leaving only the pure, physical qualities of the medium itself.
In Empress of India, Stella’s use of the shaped canvas also engages with the space around the work in new ways. The canvas no longer behaves as a neutral boundary between the artwork and the world; instead, it becomes an active participant in the spatial dynamic of the room. In this sense, Empress of India can be seen as a bridge between painting and sculpture, as its three-dimensional form invites the viewer to experience the artwork as a physical object rather than a window into a depicted scene.
Empress of India stands as a pivotal work in Stella’s career, encapsulating his desire to break free from the traditional constraints of painting and to explore new relationships between form, space, and perception. It reflects his ongoing fascination with geometric abstraction and his commitment to expanding the possibilities of modern art.
Geometric Abstraction and Colour: The Protractor Series
In the late 1960s, Stella embarked on a bold new phase in his artistic career with the creation of the Protractor series (1967-1971). Inspired by the intricate geometric patterns found in Islamic architecture, particularly the precision of arches and protractors, Stella pushed his work into new realms of abstraction. His earlier focus on minimalism and monochromatic palettes gave way to a vibrant explosion of colour and dynamic geometry, marking a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution. The Protractor Series stands out for its use of interlocking semicircles and arcs, which, though rooted in the flatness of the canvas, appear to almost pulse with movement. One of the most striking elements of the Protractor Series is its intricate geometrical composition. The semicircles, interlocking arcs, and protractor-like forms in these works are part of a calculated exploration of space and form. These geometrical arrangements create a paradoxical depth, encouraging the viewer to engage with the works not as static objects but as dynamic forms that seem to shift with the viewer's gaze.
The Role of Colour
Colour, in the Protractor Series, became an equally important tool in shaping the viewer’s experience. Unlike the restrained monochrome palette of his earlier works, Stella now embraced bold, saturated hues that intensified the optical effects of his compositions. His colours seem to reverberate across the canvas, drawing the viewer's eye in unpredictable directions, and in doing so, challenge the traditional perception of the canvas as a static plane. This deliberate use of colour in Stella’s Protractor Series acts as both a compositional tool and a way to evoke sensory responses.
Harran II (1967)
A quintessential example of the Protractor series is Harran II (1967). This painting exemplifies Stella’s mature approach to geometric abstraction, featuring a complex interplay of interlocking semicircles and bright, saturated colours. Named after the ancient city of Harran in Turkey, the work not only reflects Stella’s ongoing interest in historical and cultural references but also showcases his ability to infuse geometric forms with a sense of rhythm and vitality. The juxtaposition of vibrant yellows, blues, reds, and greens, adds to the dynamic energy of the composition, transforming the painting into an immersive experience for the viewer. The Protractor series remains a key moment in Stella's artistic journey, reflecting his constant innovation and his refusal to be confined by traditional artistic conventions.
Sculpture and Industrial Materials: Stella’s Move into Three Dimensions
Industrial Processes and Materials
By the 1980s, Stella began moving decisively from the flat surface of the canvas into the realm of three-dimensional sculpture. His embrace of industrial materials, such as steel, aluminium, and fibreglass, marked a radical expansion of his artistic vision, blending elements of painting, architecture, and engineering into unified, spatial compositions. Where his earlier works explored geometric abstraction within the confines of two dimensions, his sculptures brought these geometric shapes into the physical world, creating new dialogues between art and architecture.
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, Ein Schauspiel, 3X (1983)
One of the most iconic examples of Stella’s sculptural work from this period is Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, Ein Schauspiel, 3X (1983). This piece combines the rigid geometries of his earlier paintings with the physical presence and complexity of three-dimensional form. Named after Heinrich von Kleist’s dramatic play, the sculpture is a dynamic, multi-layered construction that fuses geometric abstraction with narrative and theatrical references. The work's imposing scale and its use of bold, overlapping shapes give it a sense of movement and tension, almost as if it were a scene in motion, frozen in time. The significance of Prinz Friedrich von Homburg lies in its ability to operate on multiple levels: as an abstract composition, a physical object in space, and a reference to historical and cultural narratives. In doing so, Stella expands the possibilities of abstract art, moving beyond the canvas to create works that inhabit the world of architecture and industrial design while remaining deeply rooted in the traditions of painting and sculpture.
Printmaking Techniques
Combining Printmaking with Sculpture
Throughout his career, Stella has maintained an enduring commitment to printmaking, a medium that allowed him to explore new dimensions of abstraction and extend the vocabulary he developed in painting and sculpture. Stella’s approach to printmaking was far from conventional. He embraced a wide variety of techniques, such as lithography, screen printing, etching, and intaglio, to produce complex, multi-layered works. His prints are known for their intricate compositions, in which line, form, and colour interact in dynamic ways. He brought the same energy and precision to printmaking that characterised his large-scale paintings and sculptures, often creating works that felt monumental despite their smaller scale. This ability to innovate across mediums made his printmaking practice not a separate endeavour, but an integral part of his artistic evolution.
Moby Dick (1985-1997)
Stella's Moby Dick project, created from 1985 to 1993, is a seminal example of his innovative approach to printmaking. Inspired by Herman Melville’s epic novel, this series demonstrates Stella's ability to translate literary themes into abstract, visual language. Rather than offering literal illustrations of the novel’s narrative, Stella used the series as a platform to explore the thematic undercurrents of Moby Dick, such as obsession, chaos, and the sublime power of nature. In doing so, he created prints that are as layered in meaning as they are in form.
Stella’s use of printmaking techniques produced works that feel almost sculptural in their depth and texture. The prints in this series are not flat images; they are dynamic, abstract structures that seem to capture the tumultuous energy of the sea and the existential struggles of Melville’s characters. The series also reflects Stella’s interest in the idea of the “total artwork,” in which multiple artistic disciplines, such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking, converge to form a cohesive visual experience. In works such as A Squeeze of the Hand, part of the Moby Dick series, Stella layers colours and forms in ways that suggest both the swirling motion of the ocean and the psychological turmoil of the characters. The result is a body of work that feels both expansive and intimate, drawing the viewer into the depths of the abstract forms while hinting at the scope of Melville’s narrative. The Moby Dick series stands as a testament to Stella's ability to merge literature, visual art, and abstract thought into a singular artistic vision, making it one of the most important achievements in his printmaking career.
From the minimalism of his early Black Paintings to the vibrant, sculptural complexity of his later works, Stella’s career has been a testament to relentless experimentation and innovation. His groundbreaking use of shaped canvases, industrial materials, and geometric abstraction helped redefine the possibilities of contemporary art. By embracing new materials and techniques, Stella consistently challenged the limits of traditional painting and sculpture, creating works that exist as both objects and experiences. Stella’s refusal to conform to artistic conventions has left an indelible mark on the history of modern art, and his exploration of form, colour, and space continues to influence a wide range of artistic movements, from Minimalism and Post-Painterly Abstraction, to Color Field Painting.
Frank Stella
237 works
