Death at 87 of American Frank Stella, figure of minimalism

(Washington) Frank Stella, an American painter who became a figure in post-war American art, particularly with his first minimalist works, died at the age of 87, American media reported on Saturday.

Frank Stella died in his Manhattan home, a victim of lymphoma, the New York Times reported.

He launched his career by creating paintings contrasting with the abstract expressionism of the time, with few colors.

His early work included a series of “stripe” paintings, large works with precise black lines on a blank canvas, which became a hit in the American art world and beyond.

Frank Stella was recognized as a major American artist before he was 25 and continued his career for more than six decades.

He subsequently explored color and form, occasionally making irregularly shaped paintings with geometric patterns. In the 1970s and 1980s, Stella increasingly turned to three-dimensional works, incorporating aluminum and fiberglass into her works, before executing monumental sculptures.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York devoted two retrospectives to him in 1970 and 1987.