Frank Stella, The Quarter-Deck from The Waves, 1989

Artist: Frank Stella (1936 - )
Title:The Quarter-Deck from The Waves, 1989
Reference:Axsom 189
Series:The Waves
Medium:Silkscreen, lithography, and linoleum block with hand-coloring, marbling, and collage on T.H. Saunders and Somerset papers
Image Size:75 in x 55 3/4 in (190.5 cm x 141.5 cm)
Sheet Size:75 in x 55 3/4 in (190.5 cm x 141.5 cm)
Framed Size:approx. 87 in x 67 3/4 in (221 cm x 172.1 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 60 in pencil in the lower center; aside from the editions of 10 artist’s proofs and 4 printer’s proofs; published by Waddington Graphics, London.
Signature:This work is hand signed and dated ‘F. Stella ‘89’ by Frank Stella (Massachusetts, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower center.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #w-6670

Historical Description

Frank Stella The Quarter-Deck from The Waves, 1989 virtually explode off the page with sharp colors and ecstatic design elements. Most of the mixed media work is composed with the bright colors of yellow, orange, pink, robin’s egg blue and a mint green. The more neutral colors consist of light greys and brown around the edges. It stands out, then, when a piecing shape of black is inserted into the center of the image. Hiding just behind this dark icicle is a curious pair of American flag printed 3D glasses – turning Stella’s work into a scavenger hunt for the details.

This work gets its title from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, an American classic. Each work in The Waves is titled after a chapter from the book.

Created in 1989, this silkscreen, lithography, and linoleum block with hand-coloring, marbling, and collage on T.H. Saunders and Somerset papers is hand signed and dated ‘F. Stella ‘89’ by Frank Stella (Massachusetts, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower center. Numbered from the edition of 60 in pencil in the lower center; aside from the editions of 10 artist’s proofs and 4 printer’s proofs; published by Waddington Graphics, London.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Frank Stella The Quarter-Deck from The Waves, 1989 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the 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. 189.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Frank Stella The Quarter-Deck from The Waves, 1989 presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.