Frank Stella, Shards III, 1982

Artist: Frank Stella (1936 - )
Title:Shards III, 1982
Reference:A146
Series:Shards
Medium:Color Lithograph and Screenprint
Image Size:45 1/4 in x 39 3/4 in (114.9 cm x 101 cm)
Sheet Size:45 1/4 in x 39 3/4 in (114.9 cm x 101 cm)
Framed Size:57 1/2 in x 51 7/8 in (146.1 cm x 131.8 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 100 in pencil in the lower right margin
Signature:This work is hand-signed and dated by Frank Stella (Malden, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower right margin.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #w-4113

Historical Description

The vibrant turquoise, pink, and yellow hues pop out against the rich brown and black background, creating a striking sense of contrast as Stella's abstract imagery comes to life before us. Squiggles are juxtaposed with sharp angels, yet Shards III, remains balanced. Slightly off-center, a rectangle filled with a light gradient of white to mint green with a pattern of fine pink lines anchors the image. Econompassing the rectangle, the same pattern repeats, however background colors are warm tones of dark reds, purples and browns. The line of the pattern are almost white, as if the surface was scratched away. Superimposed forms advance and recede, creating a topsy-turvy perspective.

This magnificent, large-scale color lithograph and screenprint exemplifies Stella's true innovation as a printmaker. This work was influenced by paper cutouts of shapes as well as grid systems that had appeared in Stella's prior paintings. Aptly titled Shards, this print depicts fragments of former objects. Richard H. Axsom points out the re-occurring images in this work that are amongst Stella's favorite motifs: French curves, "cookie cutouts," the serpentine and heart shaped forms, as well as the pantograph, a draftman's device for duplicating and enlarging forms (p. 238). Axsom continues to state of this series, "In Shards, the staccato rhythms of floating eccentric shapes, reminiscent of Kandinsky's biomorphic abstraction of the 1930s, create a series that is whimsical and jazzy" (p. 238).

This color lithograph and screenprint is hand signed and dated by Frank Stella (Malden, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower right margin. Numbered from the edition of 100 in pencil in the lower right margin, this work was published by Petersburg Press, New York.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Frank Stella Shards III, 1982 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnès and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Axsom, Richard H. The Prints of Frank Stella: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York: Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, 2016. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 146.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade conservation standards, Stella Shards III, 1982 is presented in a complementary moulding with silk mats and optical-grade Plexiglas.