"The Marriage of Reason and Squalor 2" ,1959

The Black Paintings 1958-1960

Date: January 27, 2015
Author: kwagner2@uoregon.edu
Category:
Zambezi, 1959

Zambezi, 1959,

90 3/4 in. x 78 3/4 in

Arundel Castle, 1959

Arundel Castle, 1959

Featured Image : “The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, 2″ (1959), 7′ 6 3/4″ x 11′ 3/4”

Frank Stella began the “Black Paintings” as soon as he moved to New York City in 1958, and they almost immediately made him famous. He created these works by penciling lines on blank canvases, and went over them with a roller and black house paint (enamel). He left thin strips of unpainted canvas to create the white lines that we see. What made this series so unique was the idea that Stella made no decisions in the process of creating the works. According to him, the canvas already predetermines the outcome of the painting with its shape. The canvas and the lines acted as objects that were connected with one another, and the paintings are a result of structural logic.Greatly influenced by Jasper Johns’s flag paintings, Stella is exploring flatness, and the painting as image and object. The black bands of paint act as exactly what they are, just black bands of paint interacting with the surface of the canvas, moving in different directions. His minimalist approach and lack of ownership for his work are what began to define him in his early stages.

A mini lecture by “Little Art Talks” that dives into the beginning of Stella’s career, the influence that Pollock and Johns had on him as well as an analysis on this series. She also discusses the minimalist movement, what the artists’ intended to emphasize, and the criticisms Stella and other artists received.