Frank Stella Then Water Came and Quenched the Fire, from Illustrations After El Lissitzky's Had Gadya, 1984 is a stunning abstract interpretation of a Jewish Passover song. Multimedia and multicolored, this prismatic and complexly layered artwork by Frank Stella utilizes expressive drawing mixed with hard edges to explore the application of abstraction as a narrative device. Through the use of striated lines in red-brown, Stella creates an implied sense of volume, with his introduction of cones, spheres and tubular pillars, that navigator the viewer on a journey through the composition. The hand-painted background of bright yellow is vibrant frame for the interior imagery which is much darker. A tilted square in dark greens and brown is structured towards the center, while a brilliant blue and white formation dominates the foreground. Frank Stella adopts the use of collage in this intricate artwork, adding dimensionality to this graphic work.

Created in 1984, Frank Stella Then Water Came and Quenched the Fire, from Illustrations after El Lissitzky’s Had Gadya, 1984 is hand-coloring and collage with lithograph, linocut, and silkscreen on T. H. Saunders paper (background) and shaped, hand-cut Somerset paper (collage). Hand-signed and dated by Frank Stella (Massachusetts,1936 - ) in pencil in the lower center: ‘F. Stella ‘84’, this work is numbered from the edition of 60 in pencil in the lower center; published by Waddington Graphics, London.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Frank Stella Frank Stella Then Water Came and Quenched the Fire, from Illustrations After El Lissitzky's Had Gadya, 1984 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. 176.
2. Stella, Frank. Illustrations after El Lissitzky’s Had Gadya 1982–1984. London: Waddington Graphics, 1985. Listed and illustrated as plate no.6.
3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards Frank Stella Then Water Came and Quenched the Fire, from Illustrations After El Lissitzky's Had Gadya, 1984 is presented in a complementary moulding, mats and optical grade Plexiglas.