Frank Stella (1936–2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker known for his groundbreaking contributions to abstract art. Born on May 12, 1936, in Malden, Massachusetts, he studied at Phillips Academy in Andover before attending Princeton University, where he earned a degree in history. While at Princeton, he was influenced by painters such as Stephen Greene and William Seitz, as well as the work of abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline. However, Stella’s approach would diverge sharply from the gestural intensity of expressionism, favoring a more structured, geometric style that helped define Minimalism.
Stella gained early recognition in the late 1950s with his "Black Paintings," a series of austere, symmetrical compositions featuring bands of black paint separated by thin lines of exposed canvas. These works, first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art’s Sixteen Americans show in 1959, marked a turning point in contemporary art, rejecting the emotional and personal brushwork of abstract expressionism in favor of flat, systematic compositions. His famous declaration, "What you see is what you see," captured the essence of his work—emphasizing the materiality of painting rather than illusion or narrative.
In the 1960s, Stella expanded his exploration of shaped canvases with his Protractor series, where he introduced vibrant color and complex geometric arrangements. These works, featuring interlocking arcs and bold patterns, challenged the traditional rectangular canvas and further blurred the line between painting and sculpture. His innovative use of form, surface, and color influenced the development of hard-edge painting and post-painterly abstraction, positioning him as a leading figure in contemporary art.