Throughout his extraordinary career, Frank Stella (1936-2024) significantly influenced the key developments in post-war American art; notably the rejection of abstract expressionism and the introduction of hard-edge abstraction and Minimalism.
Stella was also one of the first artists who elevated the picture-as-object, dismissing the expressiveness of paint in the creation of abstract art. Influencing numerous artists, Stella approached image-making with no allusion to the material world or an emotional state. Furthermore little was left to chance or the unconsciousness. Stella's paintings were planned and carefully executed.
Caviar20 is excited to be offering this extremely rare monotype (cotton-pulp relief and collage) by Frank Stella from 1975. Over the course of the previous ten years Stella became an innovative and important contributor to the printmaking renaissance in America.
The paper reliefs were created at Tyler Graphics in Bedford, NY. Collaborating with paper-making experts John and Kathleen Koller, this unique paper relief was created using brass and mahogany moulds. Stella worked with the moulds while they were still wet to dye elements of the composition or add additional collaged details.
As the reliefs dried they were hand-painted by Stella, using acrylic, casein, watercolor, and metallic paints. Staining the partially wet cotton caused colors to bleed. As a result these works are notable in Stella's oeuvre as a rare occasion where certain colored elements are the result of happenstance.
"Lunna Wola V-9" is an exceptional example from his paper relief works. The compositions of these works are borrowed from his paintings of the Polish Village Series of 1971-73. The titles are synagogue names or locations in Poland that were destroyed during the Holocaust. Although easily interpreted as a memorial, this series was conceived as Stella’s tribute to the aesthetic and architectural elements of these lost and desecrated communities / houses of worship.
Stella's work can be found in the collections of important institutions around the world. In 2009, Stella was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama.
Click here to see another example of Stella's Paper Reliefs from 1975.
Questions about this piece? Contact us or call +1.416.704.1720.
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Lunna Wola (V-9)
USA, 1975
Unique, from a series of 26
Cotton-pulp relief, collage, hand-colored on white HMP handmade, hand-colored paper, and colored HMP handmade paper
Tyler Graphics blind stamp, lower right
26"H 21.5"W 1.75"D (work)
Original plexi-box frame
Very good condition
Provenance: This work was acquired by the AT&T corporation in 1976, a year after it was created. It remained in their offices on West Broadway (NYC) until 2004 when it was acquired by our client who was retiring and able to purchase artwork that had been in his office.
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Occasionally we will recommend that an artwork be removed from its frame for shipping. Larger framed works are typically framed with plexiglass. We export over 80% of what we sell, so we are comfortable shipping anywhere.
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