Frank Stella Shards Variant IA, 1982 is a mesmerizing artwork, an extraordinary and accomplished effort by this important American abstract artist. Squiggles, organic shapes are intermixed with rectangles and sharp angles, meeting together to provide a world of maximal abstraction which Frank Stella has honed in on in his later oeuvre. While the outlines are precise, even and crisps, Stella embraces expressive and dense scribbles to fill the multitude of forms. The majority of the palette employed in this prismatic work is composed of brilliant yet cool blues, and aquatic teal. Vibrant red, sharp yellow and tinged pinks pop against the darker background of blue hues. Despite Stella’s complex visual language, Frank Stella Shards Variant IA, 1982 is unified by the intricate grid which is interlaced throughout the composition.  To create this beautifully layered image, Stella utilized 43 runs from 33 lithographic aluminum plates and 2 silkscreens.

Created in 1982, Frank Stella Shards Variant IA, 1982 is a color lithograph and screenprint on 320 gram Arches paper. Hand signed and dated by Frank Stella (Malden, 1936 - ) in pencil in the lower right margin, this work is one of ten artist proofs numbered in Roman numerals in pencil in the lower right; aside from the numbered edition of 38. This work is a variant of Shards I, 1982 which was editioned in different colors, utilizing the same printing elements.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Frank Stella Shards Variant IA, 1982 fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnès and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Axsom, Richard H. The Prints of Frank Stella: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York: Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, 2016. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no.149.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the framing:
Framed to museum-grade conservation standards, Frank Stella Shards Variant IA, 1982 is presented in a complementary moulding and optical-grade Plexiglas.