(Malden, Massachusetts, 1936 - )
1981
Enamel, acrylic, oil and metal flakes on aluminum
114 x 128 x 28 in. (289.6 x 325.1 x 71.1 cm)
Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Purchased, by exchange, with funds from the John Lyon Collyer Fund and the Charles E. and Mabel M. Ritchie Memorial Foundation
1981.16
This work is part of a large series of paintings and prints that Frank Stella named after international circuits for auto races—Diepholz is a German track. While the painting’s frenetic energy may parallel the drama of race-car driving, it is not a depiction of a particular place or event. Its snaking curves derive instead from art tools—ornate drafting templates such as French curves and ship curves used in nautical design. A structure of lightweight but strong honeycomb aluminum allowed Stella to build the painting so that it projects off the wall into the gallery, challenging traditional distinctions between painting and sculpture.