Frank Stella - Haunch of Venison

Frank Stella, Delta, 1958

My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen there is there. It really is an object... If the painting were lean enough, accurate enough or right enough, you would just be able to look at it. All I want anyone to get out of my paintings, and all I ever get out of them, is the fact that you can see the whole idea without any confusion...What you see is what you see. 

Frank Stella in Glaser, B. and Lippard, L. R. (1966) "Questions to Stella and Judd", Art News, September, (discussion originally broadcast on WBAI-FM, New York, February 1964 as "New Nihilism or New Art?"), reprinted in Battcock, Gregory ed. (1968) Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology, London: Studio Vista, pp157-8

A rare exhibition of work by Frank Stella, one of my very favourite artists, is at Haunch of Venison from 30 September to 19 November. Read an article about Stella by Alastair Sooke and see his interview on The Culture Show (BBC2).

Frank Stella, Grape Island, 1958

Frank Stella, Sidney Guberman, 1964

Frank Stella, Les Indes Galantes, 1962

Frank Stella, Basra Gate I, 1968

Frank Stella, Gkinne II, 1972

I wanted to get the paint out of the can and onto the canvas. I knew a wise guy who used to make fun of my painting, but he didn't like the Abstract Expressionists either. He said they would be good painters if they could only keep the paint as good as it is in the can. And that's what I tried to do. I tried to keep the paint as good as it was in the can.

Frank Stella in Glaser, B, and Lippard, L. R. (1966) "Questions to Stella and Judd", Art News, September, (discussion originally broadcast on WBAI-FM, New York, February 1964 as "New Nihilism or New Art?"), reprinted in Battcock, Gregory ed. (1968) Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology, London: Studio Vista, p157.