Frank Stella, Quathlamba II, from V Series, 1968 | Shapero Modern
Frank Stella, a key pioneer of the Minimalist movement, championed simplicity in resistance to the Abstract Expressionist movement of the time. Commenting on his minimalist period, Stella once said: ‘What you see is what you see’, however, such a statement is hard to accept when we examine his graphic work of this period. The ‘V Series’, in particular, has an unexpected and fascinating narrative behind it…
Frank Stella, Quathlamba I, from V Series, 1968 | Shapero Modern
Through each artwork’s title, Stella offers a peculiar nod to the clipper ships of the mid-19th century, which earned their name from their high-speed ‘clipping’ through the sea. Each work is named after a particular ship, built in Great Britain during this period.
Powerful and angular, the clipper ships possessed sleek hulls that sliced cleanly through the water and dominated the seas during the mid-19th century. Stella’s striking, repetitive ‘V’ forms represent the speed and momentum of these vessels with their advancing, arrow-like line designs which create a sense of constant, continuous motion.
By replicating and rotating the axes of the ‘V’ forms in ‘Quathlamba I’ and ‘Quathlamba II’ (Stella mimics the undulating movement of the clipper boats through the waves.
In this series, Stella’s unique form of minimalism reduces the complex structure of these historical, nautical forms into geometric bands of colour and line that preserve the essence of these monuments of the sea.
Next month you can view both ‘Quathlamba I’ and ‘Quathlamba II’ at Shapero Modern’s booth AM320 at Art Miami, the city’s biggest contemporary and modern art fair, from the 2-7 December 2025.
