Frank Stella, Then Came a Fire and Burnt the Stick, after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya 1984 |
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| Artist: | Frank Stella (1936 - ) |
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| Title: | Then Came a Fire and Burnt the Stick, after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya, 1984 |
| Series: | Illustrations after El Lissitzky’s Had Gadya, 1984 |
| Medium: | Color screen print, lithograph and linocut with hand-coloring and collage. |
| Image: | 52 7/8 in x 53 1/8 3/8in (132 cm x 135 cm) |
| Sheet: | 58 1/4 in x 58 13/18 in (148 cm x 1149.5 cm) |
| Framed: | 63 in x 63 in |
| Edition: | Numbered from the edition of 60 in pencil. |
| Signature: | This work is hand-signed by Frank Stella (Massachusetts,1936 - ) in pencil. |
| Condition: | This work is in excellent condition. |
| ID # | W-6822 |
Frank Stella Then Came a Fire and Burnt the Stick, after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya 1984, recalls the post-painterly abstraction known to have influenced Stella with added elements that reflect collage and cut-out effects. Inspired after seeing an exhibition in 1919 by the Russian avant-garde artist El Lissitzky (1890-1941) who had created a series of gouaches illustrating the traditional Jewish Passover song, Had Gadya (The Only Kid), Stella created his own, one of which you see before you. With movement and vibrancy, each piece in the series illustrates each line of the song, as Lissitzky had done. What makes The Had Gadya series so pivotal in Stella’s oeuvre however is that it is the introduction of both the 'wave' motif, which inspired the seminal Moby-Dick series and his Cones and Pillars iconography.
This stunning work is bursting with color and movement. Shades of blue, red and yellow dominate the piece. Like a music piece, each component of the collage forms an upbeat composition. Central to the scene are bright red, geometric serpentine forms surrounded by a field of yellow with excellent variation to form an abstract image. Viewed together, the colors and forms are a testament to Stella’s artistic past and future.
Created in 1984, this color screen print, lithograph and linocut with hand-coloring and collage is hand-signed by Frank Stella (Massachusetts, 1936 - ). Numbered from the edition of 60.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Frank Stella Then Came a Fire and Burnt the Stick, after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya 1984, 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 sale of the work).
1. Stella, Frank. Illustrations after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya 1982-1984. London: Waddington Graphics, 1985. Listed and illustrated as plate 5.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.
About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade conservation standards, Frank Stella Then Came a Fire and Burnt the Stick, after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya 1984, is presented in a complementary moulding with silk mats and optical-grade Plexiglas.
