Frank Stella Pushes Art's Boundaries

71-Year-Old Painter-Sculptor-Builder Keeps Going, No Matter What Critics Say

(CBS)  The objects in Frank Stella's black paintings were grenades lobbed at the art establishment.

"The black paintings are a lot of things but first, perhaps, and foremost, they're structural, but basically, in the end, all paintings are painted objects," he told Sunday Morning correspondent Martha Teichner.

To watch Stella work, it may seem like a 71-year-old man playing, but he has been in the forefront of American art for nearly a half century.

It was 1959, the era of the abstract expressionists, lead by people like Jackson Pollock or Willem de Kooning.

Along comes a kid from Malden, Mass., who majored in medieval history (not art) at Princeton and he was doing something new - something that came to be known as Minimalism.

At the age of 23, he became a sensation. Pretty soon, he started pushing the boundaries. The flat paintings gave way to layered collages which Stella calls painted reliefs.

"I like to think the paintings are as alive as I am," he said.

That's about where he was in 1983, when Sunday Morning first made his acquaintance. Even then, as original Sunday Morning host Charles Kuralt noted, he was fascinated by architecture and had begun experimenting.

"You have to relate each piece to each other, and it just sort of snowballs," Stella told Kuralt. "That's the way it goes. I think the forms asked to be treated that way, that's all I can say."

Once the forms "asked" to get down from the wall, they grew wildly. By the early 1990s, he really did consider what he was doing to be architecture.

In fact, "Painting into Architecture" was the name of a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, tracing the evolution of his work. The only problem, he said, is that his designs are clientless and have yet to be built - although his model of a band shell commissioned for a park in downtown Miami was almost built.

One thing that is consistent throughout his designs is the presence of a cheap beach hat that he bought long ago in Rio de Janeiro. It's there (size extra-large!) outside the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

"Look, it's America," he said. "I didn't expect it ever to get this far, I didn't expect to get here, but I'm not unhappy."

The name of the sculpture, all 10 tons of it, is called "Prinz Friedrich von Homburg" after a play and an opera. But don't bother trying to find a connection between the name and the piece. And don't try to figure out why one particular piece is part of Stella's "Moby Dick" series. Stella names his works after the fact, for his own reasons.

It's a costly profession. In 1983 he told Kuralt that for what he spends on making a piece, he could go out and buy a Porsche and paint over that.

There's been inflation since then. His pieces may cost a fortune to make but they also sell for a fortune. In 2004, Art News Magazine named Frank Stella one of the 10 most expensive living artists. Prices for pieces in a show at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York over the summer ranged from $135,000 to just under $1 million.

One of his paintings just sold at Sotheby's for $2.6 million, all of which is ironic since every time he tries something new, the critics brutalize him.

"Twits are twits," he said. "There's nothing you can do about it."

The critics notwithstanding, Stella is important enough to have had three - count them, three - simultaneous exhibitions in New York just this past summer, including one on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum. You'd think he'd relax and enjoy the honor but he is very hard on himself.

"I think it's unfortunately fair to say about me that, you know, I outperform my abilities," he said. "Certainly, de Kooning and Pollock were more gifted as artists than I am.

"I fit after them, but maybe closer than some others."

For Stella, a man whose name means star, a career anybody else would call stellar isn't good enough. He is still at work, struggling to please himself, still consumed with the exploration of space.

[mw139438]

I am also an art educator who is highly interested in purchasing a DVD set of Sunday Morning''s art segments. I''m sure the DVDs would sell well. Maybe CBS should check out PBS'' Art21 series! I just emailed this website''s customer service suggesting they compile and sell the art segments on DVD. Maybe if others email CBS we''ll get what we are looking for. As for you SharnCedar, I wonder what you think of Jackson Pollock? If you watched the segment on Stella, you would''ve notice that the man is laid-back and casual about his work. He is not a Monet, but he doesn''t claim or try to be. He doesn''t try to be like any other. I just completed a lesson on Andy Goldsworthy with my elementary students. By the end of the lesson, they all understood that art doesn''t have to "look like something". As you say "OMG"! Note to the art educators...that is evidence of our importance. They really should make art ed mandatory in all fifty states K-12! Robgros...As for Frank Stella being related to Joseph Stella...visit Artchive''s website www.artchive.com. Maybe you''ll find your answer. Another great site that might give you some insight is www.nga.gov (National Gallery). They also have great lesson plans!

[robgros]

Can you tell me if Frank Stella, minimalist andabstract artist is related to Joseph Stella, artist, painter of the "Brooklyn Bridge"?

[oryniak]

I too would like to watch the Frank Stella segment again. Is there any way for me to do this?

[sharncedar]

"basically, in the end, all paintings are painted objects,"

OMG, a brilliant man to lead a brilliant country. Paintings are .... stuff that is painted! He is insightful, I HOPE they make this great learning madatory in our schools, this man should should be elected high minister of culture and smart stuff like that.

We should all follow his example, and put big hunks of rusting, shapeless iron in our yards painted black. He is so smart, OMG.

I hope Hillary, our hope and prayers are with you Hillary, will notice this great man and give him a job in the culture and stuff like that place.

[bella216]

I am also an art teacher wanting a copy of the segment

[konradwinter]

Okay...Sunday Morning is one of my most watched programs on tv. That being said...I was wondering why Sunday Morning doesn''t have a video archive of all it''s wonderful art, theatre, music, and dance interviews? Some of the work that is presented in those segments are breathtaking and I, as an educator, would love to be able to offer those insights to my students. Why aren''t they available? Or is it that I haven''t dug deep enough into your website to discover the obscure button that will take me to that rich archive of knowledge and information? My wife and I teach theatre and film at a local university. My wife is also a middle school art teacher. This resource would be highly valued...thanks...kw

[konradwinter]

Okay...Sunday Morning is one of my most watched programs on tv. That being said...I was wondering why Sunday Morning doesn''t have a video archive of all it''s wonderful art, theatre, music, and dance interviews? Some of the work that is presented in those segments are breathtaking and I, as an educator, would love to be able to offer those insights to my students. Why aren''t they available? Or is it that I haven''t dug deep enough into your website to discover the obscure button that will take me to that rich archive of knowledge and information?
Please reply to [e-mail] My wife and I teach theatre and film at a local university. My wife is also a middle school art teacher. This resource would be highly valued...thanks...kw