Raqqa II

Raqqa II is part of Frank Stella’s Protractor series that he began creating in 1967. Although he did not complete the series, Stella had planned for it to include 31 paintings in three different formats: interlaces, rainbows, and fans. He named the series for the half-circle shape of a protractor. He named the paintings after cities in the Middle East that originally had a circular layout. Raqqa, a city in Syria, was an important trade center under Arab rule during the Middle Ages. 

Stella used a careful, mathematical approach to creating Raqqa II and the other paintings in his Protractor series. The bright colors and giant size of Raqqa II make it stand out and dominate its surroundings. What first appears to be a childlike pattern is actually a highly complex exercise in geometry. 

In creating his paintings, Stella aimed to reduce the image to paint and canvas alone. He was known as a hard-edge painter who made lines and shapes appear completely solid. He avoided telling a story or making a statement in his work, which was very different from other abstract paintings created during the abstract expressionist movement. Abstract expressionist painters aimed to express their feelings and beliefs through their art. They often used loose, spontaneous, sweeping brushstrokes. Stella, however, was inspired by the careful geometric art of Josef Albers, whose work is also included in the People’s Collection.

tags: line, shape, color, cycle, movement, order, place, variation, math