id: 156034 accession number: 1991.29.e share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.29.e updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:12.123000 Giufa e la Statua de Gesso, 1985. Frank Stella (American, b. 1936). Oil, urethane enamel, fluorescent alkyd, acrylic and printing ink on canvas, etched magnesium, aluminum, and fiberglass; overall: 311.2 x 404.8 x 67 cm (122 1/2 x 159 3/8 x 26 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Agnes Gund in appreciation of Marjorie and Anselm Talalay 1991.29.e © Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: Giufa e la Statua de Gesso title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1985 creation date earliest: 1985 creation date latest: 1985 current location: creditline: Gift of Agnes Gund in appreciation of Marjorie and Anselm Talalay copyright: © Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York --- culture: America, 20th century technique: oil, urethane enamel, fluorescent alkyd, acrylic and printing ink on canvas, etched magnesium, aluminum, and fiberglass department: Contemporary Art collection: CONTEMP - Painting type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Frank Stella (American, b. 1936) - artist Frank Stella was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1936 and studied at Princeton University. Stella's auspicious start in New York, only a year after his graduation from Princeton, was an exhibit of the Black Paintings of 1959-60. Viewed as a precursor to Minimalism, these pivotal works led to his inclusion in Sixteen Americans at the Museum of Modern Art and the notice of its director, Alfred Barr, who purchased a painting, The Marriage of Squalor and Reason. With their emphasis on control and rationalism, the Black Paintings opened genuinely new paths for abstraction and exerted a profound influence on the art of the 1960s. A major shift from this work began to develop in 1966 with his Irregular Polygons, canvases in the shapes of irregular geometric forms and characterized by large unbroken areas of color. As this new vocabulary developed into a more open and color-oriented pictorial language, the works underwent a metamorphosis in size, expressing an affinity with architecture in their monumentality. Stella also introduced curves into his works, marking the beginning of the Protractor series. Harran II evinces the great vaulting compositions and lyrically decorative patterns that are the leitmotif of the series, which is based on the semicircular drafting instrument used for measuring and constructing angles. In the 1970s, Stella's work moved toward three-dimensional paintings on shaped canvases and later toward wall constructions with multiple components, ever projecting further from their supports. Stella's second retrospective at MOMA in 1987 concluded with a series of daring reliefs based on Melville's Moby Dick. These works further blurred any boundary between paintings and sculpture. In 1983-84 Stella gave the Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard University. These lectures, later published under the title Working Space, marked a critical juncture for the artist. A spirited defense of abstraction, they could well sum up Stella's approach to painting and have acted as a manifesto for his work since. Since the 1980s, the artist has completed a number of large-scale works for public spaces, confirming Stella's abiding interest in architecture. A vast commission during the early 90s, involving the Princess of Wales Theater in Toronto, has led to a series of architectural proposals and commissions over the past eight years, including his Bandshell for the City of Miami. --- measurements: Overall: 311.2 x 404.8 x 67 cm (122 1/2 x 159 3/8 x 26 3/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Frank Stella: Relief Paintings. M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1985.', 'opening_date': '1985-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Recent Paintings and Sculpture. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1985.', 'opening_date': '1985-07-01T04:00:00Z'} * {'description': 'Patrons and Friends 10th Anniversary Exhibition. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University,Waltham, MA, 1987.', 'opening_date': '1987-01-01T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); Mr. and Mrs. Graham Gund, Cambridge, MA; Agnes Gund, New York date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES