Shocked the art world

US artist Frank Stella dead at the age of 87

The US artist Frank Stella is dead. Stella, who was considered one of the most important US artists of his generation, died of cancer at home in New York on Saturday (local time) at the age of 87, as Harriet McGurk, the artist's wife, announced. In a few days, one of his most famous works, "Concentric Squares", is to go under the hammer at Christie's auction house in New York.

Born in 1936 in the East Coast metropolis of Boston, Stella shocked the art world at the end of the 1950s with a series of all-black paintings. The black paintings were followed by silver and copper-colored ones. As the 1960s progressed, his paintings became more colorful, including the use of fluorescent acrylic paints. Stella later also produced reliefs and large-format sculptures. His play with geometric shapes remained constant.

"Changing the history of art"
The artist's works have been exhibited worldwide. Among others, the Whitney Museum in New York dedicated the inaugural retrospective in the new building to him in 2015, while the Museum of Modern Art even dedicated two retrospectives to him. Stella "changed the history of art with his early work and then moved on", says Roberta Smith, art critic for the New York Times.

Stella came to New York because he was attracted to the local scene and artists such as Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock. "I wouldn't have become an artist in the first place if I hadn't liked the artists of that generation so much," he once told the British "Telegraph". He was discovered by gallery owner Leo Castelli. "I spent a lot of time in his gallery. He recognized me because I looked so untidy," Stella later claimed.

Sculpture concealed in Seoul
His artworks were not always met with enthusiasm. For example, people in Seoul, South Korea, complained about the metal sculpture "Amabel", which was erected in their city, until a small group of trees was planted around it, partially covering the work.

Stella owned a house in Manhattan and a studio in the north of the US East Coast metropolis. Although some of his works sold for millions, he claimed that art had not made him rich. According to him, he stopped painting in 2000 for health reasons. He remained faithful to the second great passion in his life, driving racing cars, for longer. "I was born to drive," he once told the New York Times.