Frank Stella
A pioneer of Minimalism and post-painterly abstraction, Stella has cemented his place as one of the most important American artists of the past century. His prints - particularly the earlier lithographs - are highly sought-after and have seen buoyant growth over the past year.
The physical scale of Stella's artistic achievement is staggering. Over seven decades he has produced a body of work that has been at the vanguard of developments in painting, always staying three steps ahead of his contemporaries. Embracing the idea of the painting as a painted object rather than a visual representation of the world, he exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York when he was only 24. Several years later he would become the youngest artist ever to be granted a retrospective there. His aesthetic has evolved dramatically during the course of his career. Rising to prominence with bold abstract expressionist works during the 1950s, he achieved critical acclaim during the 1960s with his minimalist canvases made with industrial paints. These gave way to the jubilant, maximalist constructions of the 1980s, which were in turn succeeded by grand installations that dissolve the boundaries of painting and sculpture.
His work as a printmaker is held in similar esteem. His first prints date from the late 1960s when he began to explore lithography with master printer Kenneth Tyler at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. These early editions focused largely on the formal concerns expressed in his paintings. In 1973 a printing studio was installed in his home, and the scope of his technique expanded dramatically. His editions came to include elements of lithography, screenprinting, linocut, collage and hand-colouring.
Following a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2015, Stella's market has seen signficant growth, with a record price of $28 million set by the monochrome painting "Point of Pines" in 2019. The black and fluorescent works that form the early bedrock of his career retain a particular attraction to collectors, and we can think of no better entry point to the work of this titanic figure in 20th century abstraction.
If you would like more information on investing in Stella, why not take a look at some of our most recent articles featuring his prints.
