Frank Stella The Affidavit, 1993 is seventh installment in the artist’s Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series of 1993. This work is named after the 45th chapter in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. In this chapter, Ishmael explains the frequency with which whales survive attacks by humans and writes about how unique each individual whale is. The center of the composition is filled with a collage of drawing-like forms that resemble the artist’s Cones and Pillars paintings from years earlier. A grid-like pattern of dots in the background that appears in every work in this series gives the work the illusion of a three-dimensional work. Smaller versions of these dots line the top, left and half of the bottom edges of the composition and bring extra depth to the overall work. This collage of several printmaking techniques showcases Stella’s mastery over several mediums.

Frank Stella The Affidavit, 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 Whale-Watch, The Battering Ram, Monstrous Pictures of Whales, The Pequod Meets the Jeroboam. Her Story, Ambergris, The Monkey-rope, A Bower in the Arsacides, Extracts, and Extracts, State I.

Created in 1993, this lithograph, etching, aquatint, relief and screenprint on white TGL handmade paper is hand-signed by Frank Stella (Massachusetts, 1936 - New York, 2024) in pencil in the lower center image and numbered from the edition of 38 in pencil in the lower right.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Frank Stella The Affidavit, from the Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series, 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. (Expanded Volume 2016) Axsom, The Prints of Frank Stella: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York: Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, 2016. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 220.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Frank Stella The Affidavit, from the Moby Dick Deckle Edges Series, 1993 is presented in a complementary moulding and optical grade Plexiglas.

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