FRANK STELLA (1936- ) MERCE CUNNINGHAM & DANCE COMPANY / LATIN AMERICAN TOUR. 1968. 26 1/4x47 1/2 inches, 66 3/4x120 3/4 cm. Condition B+: creases in margins; minor staining in margins and image. Mounted to board. Framed. Stella's "playful geometry" (The Poster p. 356) had appeared in 1967 on a poster for the Lincoln Center Festival, and was popular enough for him to be commissioned the following year to design this poster for a Latin American tour of the renowned dance company. "The design clearly corresponds to images from Stella's Protractor series dated 1967-70. The half-circle form is divided visually by bands of bright color into quarter circles. Thick bands of color alternate as in his other works from the same time. Stella incorporates words from the advertisement seamlessly into his piece; the curved lines fill in outer band and repeat inwardly so that some symmetry is retained. Even before designing the poster Stella created the set and costumes for a performance by Merce Cunningham in 1967" (http://www.stedelijk.nl/en/artwork/22609-merce-cunningham-dance-company-latin-american-tour-1968). Images of an Era 96.
