*1936 Malden, Massachusetts – lives in New York

The work by the American painter and sculptor Frank Stella is classified as analytical painting, hard edged, and colour field painting. In the early 1950s he studied at the Phillips Academy in Andover and came into contact with minimalist artists such as Carl André. In 1958 he moved to New York.

Stella became famous with his “black paintings”, which deal with the atrocities of National Socialism, but primarily for his “shaped canvases”. He adopted geometric forms that defied the traditional right angle of the canvas, and instead defined the shape of the canvas. Through this fusion of painting and sculpture a new art form emerged, which Stella went on to perfect in the subsequent years with his L, N, U and T shaped large format, colourful works. He then created his so-called “irregular polygons” in 1965.

In 1960 he had his first solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery. In 1986 he took part in documenta 4 and two years later he had his first retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today his work can be seen in the most prestigious collections and museums around the world.