Art Terms Decoded: What is a Triptych?

Duccio di Buoninsegna c. 1280
"Madonna and Child"
Location: National Gallery, London, England 

The etymological origins of the art term "Triptych" (pronounced "trip-tick") spawns from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον  or "Three Fold". This perfectly defines the nature of a triptych - which is a three paneled or three sectioned work of art.



Master of Frankfurt c. 1510-1520
"HolyFamily with musical Angel, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Barbara"
Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

The three pieces in a triptych can be separate pieces or can be conjoined or hinged together. The hinged triptych was an extremely popular and standard format in early Christian alter pieces from the middle ages onward. In these traditional Christian alter pieces the middle panel was generally the largest panel flanked by two smaller panels on either side which could be displayed opened or closed. The center panel was generally the most important scene, often a motif of the Virgin and Child or Jesus, while the smaller side panels were dedicated to admiring saints.

Roy Lichtenstein "As I Opened Fire" 1964

The modern format of the triptych is usually three coordinating pieces on wood panels, canvases, or even works on paper. The three pieces can be different sizes but are often the same size and shape. The triptych composition may consist of three separate images or could also be one composition separated into the three panels. One of the most noted triptychs of the 20th Century is Francis Bacon's triptych painting from 1969, Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which broke the record for the highest price ever paid for an artwork at auction at $142.4 million.

Francis Bacon "Three Studies of Lucien Freud" 1969

 

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Developing the Abstract - Frank Stella Biography

Frank Stella - Cantahar - 1998

American Abstract Artist Frank Stella was born in Malden, MA in 1936. Frank Stella is a highly regarded and collected Abstract artist known for his large–scale freestanding sculptures, architectural structures, and the most complex original prints ever realized in the medium of printmaking.

 

Frank Stella began painting in his sophomore year of high school at the Philips Academy in Andover, MA. Stella continued taking fine art courses at Princeton University, while majoring in history. While in school, Frank Stella visited numerous influential art exhibitions in the galleries of New York City. Frank Stella´s artistic development was directly shaped by the Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, and in 1958 Stella moved to New York.  

Frank Stella - Untitled - 1967

Upon moving to New York City, Stella reacted against the expressive use of paint by most painters of the abstract expressionist movement, instead finding himself drawn towards the "flatter" surfaces of Barnett Newman's art and the "Target" paintings by Jasper Johns. Stella gained early and immediate recognition in 1959 with his series of black pinstriped paintings that turned the gestural brushwork and existential angst of Abstract Expressionism on its head. Several of Frank Stella´s "black paintings" were included in major art exhibitions including: "Three Young Americans" at the Allen Memorial Museum at Oberlin College, and "Sixteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. The Black Paintings served as an important catalyst for Minimalist art of the 1960s.

In 1959 Frank Stella joined fine art dealer Leo Castelli´s gallery of artists, and in 1960 Stella began painting artworks in aluminum and copper paint as well. Stella´s art aesthetic steadily developed as he introduced a wider range of colors, typically arranged in straight or curved lines. Stella eventually created his paintings on shaped canvases (canvases in a shape other than the traditional rectangle or square), often being in L, N, U or T–shapes. In 1965 Frank Stella´s art was included in "The Shaped Canvas" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and "Systemic Painting" of 1966. Stella´s shape canvases developed into more elaborate designs, in the Irregular Polygon series of 1967.


Frank Stella - Harran II - 1967

In 1971 Stella developed his Protractor Series, in which arcs, sometimes overlapping, within square borders are arranged side–by–side to produce full and half circles painted in rings of concentric color. These paintings are named after circular cities he had visited while in the Middle East. Frank Stella´s Irregular Polygon canvases and Protractor Series further extended the concept of the shaped canvas. The shaped canvases took on even less regular forms in the Eccentric Polygon series as elements of collage were introduced. Stella´s artwork became more three–dimensional to the point where he started producing large, free–standing metal wall sculptures. As the 1970s and 1980s progressed, these became more elaborate and exuberant, marked by curving forms, Day–Glo colors, and scrawled brushstrokes. From the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s, Stella created a large body of paintings, sculptures, and original prints that responded in a general way to Herman Melville´s Moby–Dick.




Frank Stella - Extracts - 1993

Starting in the mid–1960s Frank Stella launched his extended involvement with printmaking, working first with master printer Kenneth Tyler at Gemini G.E.L. Stella would continue to produce original prints for the duration of his artistic career, and in 1973 he had a print studio installed in his New York house. Frank Stella's abstract prints in lithography, screenprinting, etching and offset lithography had a strong impact upon printmaking as a fine art.



Frank Stella - Sanor - 1996

Additionally Frank Stella is heralded for his large free–standing sculptures for public spaces from the 1990´s including: the 10,000–square–foot mural for Toronto´s Princess of Wales Theatre; his 5,000–square–foot "Stella Project" which serves as the centerpiece of the theater and lobby of the Moores Opera House on the campus of the University of Houston, in Houston, TX; and Frank Stella´s monumental sculpture was installed outside the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Frank Stella's virtually relentless experimentation has made him a key figure in American modernism, helping give rise to such developments as Minimalism, Post–Painterly Abstraction, and Color Field painting. In 2009 Frank Stella was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, and in 2011 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture by the International Sculpture Center. Frank Stella continues to live and work in New York.

"A sculpture is just a painting cut out and stood up somewhere." – Frank Stella

Select Museum Collections:

Art Institute of Chicago
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, DC
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Tate Gallery, London

Speedy Graphito - Technical Temptation

Speedy Graphito, City Love, Painting on Canvas

Street Art pioneer Speedy Graphito was born in Paris in 1961. Speedy Graphito began his art career in the 1980´s on the streets of Paris, creating dynamic paintings and street murals using spray paint and stencils.




Speedy Graphito, Toxic Game,
Screenprint Unique on Paper

Originally a graphic designer and art director, Speedy Graphito quickly established a distinct urban art style that incorporates schematic and charasmatic characters, cartoons and manga alongside contemporary commercial brands, logos, and iconic pop culture imagery. Speedy Graphito´s art is inspired by the virtual and physical urbanscape, but predominantly the barrage of advertising that dominates today´s consumer culture. Street Artist Speedy Graphito has become recognized and revered for his satirical exploration of commercialism, often turning a critical eye on our society through his pop graffiti art.

Speedy Graphito, Temptation,
Screenprint on Paper

Particularly influenced by the iconography of Disney characters and video games, street artist Speedy Graphito often turns a critical eye on our society, as his artworks feed off the collective memory of iconic imagery to create a new universal language. As an example, Speedy Graphito´s "Temptation 2011" features Disney´s Snow White enamored with the half–eaten logo of Macintosh Apple, creating a shrewd and satirical criticism of consumer seduction.

An astute representation of social communication in the internet era, Speedy Graphito's "Snow White" screenprint mirrors our media and technology dominant social intercourse. Our new social experience is saturated by both text and pictoral messages, echoing the layers of an inundated graffiti wall. The seduction is explicated beyond Snow White and the Apple Logo, but further distinguishes our mass enchantment with a technological world at our finger-tips - just a click away from satisfaction.  

Speedy Graphito, Money, Painting on Canvas

Speedy Graphito´s paintings, prints, and street art murals can be found worldwide. Already recognized in the international arena, Speedy Graphito´s Art is well known in France, England, USA, Belgium, India, Japan, Brazil, and Dubai, as well as major auction houses. Speedy Graphito has recently participated in a number of solo art exhibitions in Los Angeles Art Galleries, as well as exhibiting at the 2011 Miami Art Basel.

Denis Bloch Fine Art is pleased to offer original paintings, drawings, limited edition screenprints, and unique prints by Street Artist Speedy Graphito.