RESEARCH LIBRARY and ARCHIVE

Open by appointment

Researchers are welcome to use the library. Please schedule an appointment prior to your visit by calling 503.226.3600 Ext 102 or curator@ojm.org

Incorporating the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of Oregon

Institutional Member, Council of American Jewish Museums

Contituent Agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

Past Exhibits

Frank Stella: Illustrations after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya
April 10 - June 29, 2001

Frank Stella (American, born 1936) is best known as a major painter of the Minimal Art movement. In the late 1950's he developed his style in extreme reaction to Abstract Expressionism. Stella insisted that a painting is a physical object rather than a metaphor for something else.

Illustrations after El Lissitzky's Had Gadya consisted of twelve, large-format sheets that were hand-colored and collaged with lithographic, linoleum block, and rubber relief printings. Stella's inspiration for this series were Lissitzky’s 1919 illustrations for the Jewish folk song Had Gadya. El Lissitzky's illustrations echoed the simplicity of the lines in the song. His abstractions appealed to Frank Stella, who further abstracted the images in his own work. Given his complex methods, it took Stella two years to create the series. He finished in 1984 just as the earliest of his Cones and Pillars series were being painted. The resulting prints were a stunning example of Frank Stella's skill as a craftsman and a tribute to his status as one of the country's most innovative printmakers.

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RESEARCH LIBRARY and ARCHIVE

Past Exhibits