Frank Stella, The Whale-Watch, from the Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series, 1993

Artist: Frank Stella (1936 - )
Title:The Whale-Watch, from the Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series, 1993
Reference:Axsom 213
Series:Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series, 1993
Medium:Lithograph, etching, aquatint, relief on white TGL handmade paper
Image Size:73 in x 72 ½ in (185.4 cm x 184.2 cm)
Sheet Size:73 in x 72 ½ in (185.4 cm x 184.2 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 26 in pencil in the lower center image.
Signature:This work is hand-signed by Frank Stella (Massachusetts, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower center image.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #W-7113

Historical Description

Frank Stella The Whale-Watch, 1993 is first installment in the artist’s Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series of 1993. This work is made using two sheets of irregularly shaped paper adhered together to create a single massive image which stands at approximately six feet tall. The bottom sheet is rendered almost entirely in a monochromatic palette of white, black and grey while the top sheet is wholly chromatic. Across the entire background, a grid-like pattern of dots gives the work the illusion of a three-dimensional work. Atop this background, Stella has collaged several abstract images using various printing methods which include lithography, etching, aquatint and relief; all of these images retain a hand-drawn quality that emphasizes the artist’s technical ability and creativity.

Frank Stella The Whale-Watch, 1993 is part of a portfolio of eight works in the artist’s Moby Dick Deckle Edges series of 1993. This body of work derives its name from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and depicts dense compositions of bright colors and stunning abstract imagery. Also featured in this portfolio are The Battering Ram, Monstrous Pictures of Whales, The Pequod Meets the Jeroboam. Her Story, Ambergris, The Monkey-rope, A Bower in the Arsacides, The Affidavit, Extracts, and Extracts, State I.

Created in 1993, this lithograph, etching, aquatint and relief on white TGL handmade paper is hand-signed by Frank Stella (Massachusetts, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower center image and numbered from the edition of 26 in pencil in the lower center image.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Frank Stella The Whale-Watch, from the Moby Dick Deckle Edges, 1993 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. The Prints of Frank Stella: A Catalogue Raisonné 1967–1984. Hudson Hills Press: New York, 1983. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 213 on pg. 320.
  2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Frank Stella The Whale-Watch, from the Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series, 1993 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.