Frank Stella, “Bene Come il Sale (As Good as the Salt)”, Relief Printed Etching, 1989, Edition of 50, 147.3 x 182.9 cm, Private Collection

Frank Stella’s brightly colored and captivating “Bene Come il Sale (As Good as the Salt)” speaks to Stella’s artistic inclination towards nonrepresentational painting. Figures exist within the same space without any relationship, the only aspect tying the composition together being the beautifully vibrant colors and textures.

One of a series of fifty, this 1989 color etching was printed at the Tyler Graphics workshop in Mount Kisco, New York. A working institution for thirty-seven years, it was known for its printing of mammoth, complicated prints. In addition to work by Stella, the press printed work for both David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein, among other famous artists. In January of 1985, owner and printmaker Ken Tyler retired at the age of sixty-nine and closed the press; Tyler Graphics continues today as a gallery and a print distributor.