Label Text
Union Pacific comes from the 1960 series of twelve “Aluminum Paintings”, with which Stella created a kind of painting that took abstraction to a new level. His style eliminated the illusion of depth and removed most traditional elements of composition. The dull, metallic paint gives the surface a particularly artificial and unexpressive quality. Surface pattern is entirely dictated by following the shape of the canvas, which has been notched at the lower corners and top center, straying from the traditional rectangle. The space between the lines is determined by the width of the housepainter’s brush used to apply the paint. These factors add up to a work that seems devoid of gesture and emotion. The work is to be considered as a physical object rather than an expression or representation of something else. “What you see is what you see,” Stella’s often quoted statement, conveys his dedication to form over illusion.
Exhibition History"Commitment, Community and Controversy: The Des Moines Art Center Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 24, 1998 - May 10, 1998
"Frank Stella", Museo Nacional Centro de Arte reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, Sept. 25, 1995 - Jan. 1996
"Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline: Abstraction In the Twentieth Century," Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, N. Y., Sept. 15 - Dec. 4, 1994
"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
"Inaugural Exhibition Part I: Europe and America, The 1950's and 1960's," Wexner Center for the Visual Arts, The Ohio State University, Feb. 16 - Apr. 22, 1990
"Individuals: A Selected History of Contemporary Art 1945-1986," Organized by Julia Brown Turrell, Curator and Project Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Dec. 6, 1986 - Jan. 10, 1988
"Extended Loan," Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Oct. 7, 1983 - Nov. 7, 1984
"A Look at New York," Pasadena Art Museum, June 12 - July 21, 1973 (Organized by Barbara Haskell)
"Frank Stella," Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., Mar. 26 - May 31, 1970 and Pasadena Art Museum, Jan. 19 - Feb. 18, 1971 (Exhibition organized by the MOMA, traveled to London, Amsterdam, Canada, but "Union Pacific" shown only at MOMA and the Pasdena Art Museum)
"Painting in New York: 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, Nov. 24, 1969 - Jan. 10, 1970
"A Selection... from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowan," University of California, Irvine, 1967
"Leo Castelli/Ten Years," Leo Castelli Gallery, N.Y., Feb. 4 - 25, 1967
"Three American Painters: Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Frank Stella," Fogg Art museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Apr. 21 - May 30, 1965 and Pasadena Art Museum, July 6 - Aug. 3, 1965
"Frank Stella," Leo Castelli Gallery, N.Y., Sept. 27 - Oct. 15, 1960
Published References"Frank Stella," Leo Castelli Gallery, N. Y., 1960, exh. cat. b/w ill.
Michael Fried, "Three American Painters: Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Frank Stella," Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1965, exh. cat. ref. no.14, p.59, ill. p.74
L'ARTE MODERNA, No.111, Vol.XIII, Fratelli Fabbri Editore, Milano, Italy, 1967
John Coplans, "A Selection... From the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowan," University of California, Irvine, 1967, exh. cat. no.129
Alan Solomon, "Painting In New York: 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, 1969, exh. cat. ref. no.43, p.71, b/w ill. no.43, p.66
Jack Burnham and Charles Harper, THE STRUCTURE OF ART, George Braziller, Inc., July 14, 1970
BULLETIN, (Spring), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, ill. p.86 (essay by E.A. Carmean)
William S. Rubin, "Frank Stella," Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., 1970, exh. cat. ill. p.62, list no.17, p.171
"Frank Stella," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1971, exh. cat. no.488, b/w ill. p.30, no.9
"Frank Stella," Hayward Gallery, London, 1971, ref. no.8
Rosalind Krauss, "Sense and Sensibility," ARTFORUM, Vol. XII, no. 3, Nov. 1973, ill. p.46 (installation view)
THE NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty selections from the collection, published by the DMAC to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Nathan Emory Coffin, 1981, b/w ill.
"Peter Lodato: Dust," Baxter Art Gallery, California Institute of Tehnology, Pasadena, 1981, exh. cat. ill. p.12
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.203, b/w ill. pl.134, p.204
Lawrence Rubin, "Frank Stella: Paintings 1958 to 1965: a catalogue raisonné," Workman Pub Co / Stewart, Tabori Chang, 1986, 75, p. 112, ill. p. 113
Alfred Pacquement, FRANK STELLA, Flammarion, Paris, France, 1988, p.183, ill. p.34
BREAKTHROUGHS: AVANT - GARDE ARTISTS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1950-1990, Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Rizzoli, New York, 1991, color ill. p.58
Mark Rosenthal, "Abstraction In the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline," Harry N. Abrams, Inc., N. Y., 1996, color copy pp.168 & 169
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.267, color ill. p.266
Michael Fried, ART AND OBJECTHOOD: ESSAYS AND REVIEWS, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1998, b/w ill. fig.23, p.74
Stella was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1936. He attended the Phillips Academy in Andover from 1950-1954 where he first became interested in art and later in 1954 he enrolled at Princeton University. He graduated in 1958 with a B.A. in art History.
Source: September-October, 1976.
Union Pacific comes from the 1960 series of twelve “Aluminum Paintings”, with which Stella created a kind of painting that took abstraction to a new level. His style eliminated the illusion of depth and removed most traditional elements of composition. The dull, metallic paint gives the surface a particularly artificial and unexpressive quality. Surface pattern is entirely dictated by following the shape of the canvas, which has been notched at the lower corners and top center, straying from the traditional rectangle. The space between the lines is determined by the width of the housepainter’s brush used to apply the paint. These factors add up to a work that seems devoid of gesture and emotion. The work is to be considered as a physical object rather than an expression or representation of something else. “What you see is what you see,” Stella’s often quoted statement, conveys his dedication to form over illusion.
Exhibition History"Commitment, Community and Controversy: The Des Moines Art Center Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 24, 1998 - May 10, 1998
"Frank Stella", Museo Nacional Centro de Arte reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, Sept. 25, 1995 - Jan. 1996
"Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline: Abstraction In the Twentieth Century," Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, N. Y., Sept. 15 - Dec. 4, 1994
"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
"Inaugural Exhibition Part I: Europe and America, The 1950's and 1960's," Wexner Center for the Visual Arts, The Ohio State University, Feb. 16 - Apr. 22, 1990
"Individuals: A Selected History of Contemporary Art 1945-1986," Organized by Julia Brown Turrell, Curator and Project Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Dec. 6, 1986 - Jan. 10, 1988
"Extended Loan," Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Oct. 7, 1983 - Nov. 7, 1984
"A Look at New York," Pasadena Art Museum, June 12 - July 21, 1973 (Organized by Barbara Haskell)
"Frank Stella," Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., Mar. 26 - May 31, 1970 and Pasadena Art Museum, Jan. 19 - Feb. 18, 1971 (Exhibition organized by the MOMA, traveled to London, Amsterdam, Canada, but "Union Pacific" shown only at MOMA and the Pasdena Art Museum)
"Painting in New York: 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, Nov. 24, 1969 - Jan. 10, 1970
"A Selection... from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowan," University of California, Irvine, 1967
"Leo Castelli/Ten Years," Leo Castelli Gallery, N.Y., Feb. 4 - 25, 1967
"Three American Painters: Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Frank Stella," Fogg Art museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Apr. 21 - May 30, 1965 and Pasadena Art Museum, July 6 - Aug. 3, 1965
"Frank Stella," Leo Castelli Gallery, N.Y., Sept. 27 - Oct. 15, 1960
Published References"Frank Stella," Leo Castelli Gallery, N. Y., 1960, exh. cat. b/w ill.
Michael Fried, "Three American Painters: Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Frank Stella," Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1965, exh. cat. ref. no.14, p.59, ill. p.74
L'ARTE MODERNA, No.111, Vol.XIII, Fratelli Fabbri Editore, Milano, Italy, 1967
John Coplans, "A Selection... From the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowan," University of California, Irvine, 1967, exh. cat. no.129
Alan Solomon, "Painting In New York: 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, 1969, exh. cat. ref. no.43, p.71, b/w ill. no.43, p.66
Jack Burnham and Charles Harper, THE STRUCTURE OF ART, George Braziller, Inc., July 14, 1970
BULLETIN, (Spring), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, ill. p.86 (essay by E.A. Carmean)
William S. Rubin, "Frank Stella," Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., 1970, exh. cat. ill. p.62, list no.17, p.171
"Frank Stella," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1971, exh. cat. no.488, b/w ill. p.30, no.9
"Frank Stella," Hayward Gallery, London, 1971, ref. no.8
Rosalind Krauss, "Sense and Sensibility," ARTFORUM, Vol. XII, no. 3, Nov. 1973, ill. p.46 (installation view)
THE NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty selections from the collection, published by the DMAC to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Nathan Emory Coffin, 1981, b/w ill.
"Peter Lodato: Dust," Baxter Art Gallery, California Institute of Tehnology, Pasadena, 1981, exh. cat. ill. p.12
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.203, b/w ill. pl.134, p.204
Lawrence Rubin, "Frank Stella: Paintings 1958 to 1965: a catalogue raisonné," Workman Pub Co / Stewart, Tabori Chang, 1986, 75, p. 112, ill. p. 113
Alfred Pacquement, FRANK STELLA, Flammarion, Paris, France, 1988, p.183, ill. p.34
BREAKTHROUGHS: AVANT - GARDE ARTISTS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1950-1990, Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Rizzoli, New York, 1991, color ill. p.58
Mark Rosenthal, "Abstraction In the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline," Harry N. Abrams, Inc., N. Y., 1996, color copy pp.168 & 169
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.267, color ill. p.266
Michael Fried, ART AND OBJECTHOOD: ESSAYS AND REVIEWS, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1998, b/w ill. fig.23, p.74
DimensionsCanvas (/image): 77 1/4 × 148 1/2 × 2 5/8 in. (196.2 × 377.2 × 6.7 cm)
Accession Number 1976.62
Classificationspainting
CopyrightARS
Catalogue raisonnéRubin 75
ProvenanceArtist; (Leo Castelli Gallery, New York); Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena [purchased from previous, 1965]; (Blum/Helman Gallery, New York); Des Moines Art Center [purchased from previous, 1976]
Collections
