Frank Stella's "Sinjerli Variations" are arguably the most iconic and sought after prints from his oeuvre. They demonstrate many of Stella's best formal characteristics and technical innovations.
Stella created this series of works that combined lithography and screenprinting, basing the colors and compositions from paintings from his famed "Protractor Series" created between 1967-71. Works from this era are immediately recognizable for their circular forms divided by two protractors, each composed of interlocking and overlapping bands of color.
In the "Sinjerli" prints, similar to most of their successors, Stella places his composition towards the lower left part of the paper. Interestingly this the last time he uses this signature positioning.
As for the production complexity, these prints also seem to appear as if they were created with marker or pencil-crayon. This illusion was realized by 4 runs using aluminum plates sectioned into 27 elements.
The "Sinjerli" works are notable as Stella combines both complimentary and discordant colors together. The works invite the viewer to inspect how colors are stacked and how such combinations are mirrored or challenged in the opposite protractor. For example, notice the different shades of blue that Stella utilizes. Is the primary blue on the top protractor bolstered by the chocolate brown on the bottom? How about the elements of red on the left, are they suppressed or invigorated by their blue neighbors?
Frank Stella (b. 1936) is one of our favorite 20th century artists- he disrupted Abstract Expressionism and ushered in a new era of painting that led to Minimalism, hard edge abstraction, Op Art and even Conceptual art. He is also one of America's most accomplished, and somewhat under-appreciated, printmakers.
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Signed, numbered and dated 1977 by the artist
From an edition of 100
Lithograph and screenprint on Arches Cover paper
32"H 42"W
Very good condition.
Note: outside the Toronto-NYC-Montreal triangle, this work is sold unframed
