Manteneia II

To create the works in his Protractor series, Frank Stella used the familiar draftsman’s tool to draw tightly interlocking color arcs on paper. When he transferred the drawings to his shaped, monumental canvases, he rejected the notion that paintings should be a rectangular window onto the world by creating uniform geometric patterns instead. Though the colorful bands lie flat on the surface of the canvas, they also create a lively optical dance due to their contrasting hues and bowed shapes. The names of the paintings in this series, including Manteneia II, are based on ancient, circular-planed towns in Asia Minor and on the Persian architecture seen by the artist when travelling in Iran.

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