Frank Stella

We authenticate, certify, issue certificates of authenticity (COA), appraise the value and broker the sale of paintings and drawings by Frank STELLA.

American

Born in 1936, Malden, Massachusetts.

Died in 2024, Manhattan, New York, aged 87.

He spent most of his life in New York.

Typical subject matter:

He typically painted abstract, geometric compositions. He often addressed the idea of the relationship between painting and sculpture, notably in his “shaped canvases”, canvases cut into non-rectangular shapes that he executed from the 1960s onwards, and in his sculptures and reliefs.

Typical style:

He is renowned for his contributions to abstract art, and particularly for his practice of minimalism and geometric art. He uses simple, geometric shapes (rectangles, circles, stripes, triangles, etc.), organized in a rigorous, repetitive manner.

At the beginning of his career, he worked in black and white. From the 1960s onwards, he used bright, contrasting colors, creating a sense of rhythm in his compositions.

In the 1970s, his style became more dynamic and exuberant, with the use of bright, sometimes garish colors and irregular shapes. His work became more three-dimensional, incorporating collage elements such as pieces of canvas on plywood. In parallel, he also started to produce painted metal pieces.

Typical material and media:

He mostly worked in oil and acrylic on canvas. In the 1970s, he started to use industrial materials such as aluminum, steel, plastic, vinyl and MDF. Some of his works comprise gold or copper leaf. In his three-dimensional sculptures, he frequently used cut wood elements and other mixed materials.

If you own a painting or a sculpture by or attributed to Frank Stella, we would like to learn about it. Please send us photos or contact us at [email protected]. You will generally receive a response within 24 hours.