River of Ponds II,

1969

<em>River of Ponds II</em> belongs to Frank Stella’s <em>Protractor</em> series (1967–69, with additional works until 1971), characterized by monumental scale, a strident palette, and forms inspired by protractors, circular or semicircular tools for measuring angles and curves. In this case, Stella used a range of unmixed or "pure" acrylic paints; variations in hue and intensity create a sense of optical play. Some elements in the painting appear to project, while others seem to recede. Separated by thin pencil lines, the bands of color comprise a network of interwoven shapes, which in turn form three nested squares. As an undergraduate at Princeton University, Frank Stella took classes in studio art, but he majored in art history, completing his senior thesis on medieval Irish, Carolingian, and Ottonian art in 1958. Later that same year, he moved to New York and began the <em>Black Paintings</em> that launched his career. Stella’s innovative use of flat, ready-made colors, austere shapes, and deductive compositions exerted a formative influence on Minimalist sculpture.