Libertinia, from Imaginary Places

Over a period of four years, Stella created a body of prints whose titles all came from The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Alberto Mangual and Gianni Guadalupi. Each work from this series is recognisable for its teeming compositions of twisting, colliding and knotted forms. The shapes seem to spill out of their rectangular sheet, seemingly trying to escape their frames. As he had done since the Swan Engravings, Stella employed his full palette of printmaking media, to realise these compositions - including lithography, relief printing, etching, aquatint, engraving and screenprinting.