Frank Stella, K.81 combo (K.37 and K.43) large size, 2009

Narrator: Stella based this relief―and many more in the Scarlatti K series, including two nearby―on the sonatas of the Baroque harpsichordist Domenico Scarlatti. The works respond to Scarlatti’s compositions in visual terms.

Frank Stella: If you followed the forms, or if you did something that you’re not allowed to do usually, if you put your finger on the edge and followed the edge of the forms, you’d keep moving. And you’d run into things and loop around, and you’d do all of the things that the sound does in the course of a performance. And so it’s not so different. Because your eyes have to do a version of the same thing.

Narrator: The architect Richard Meier has been friends with Stella since the late 1950s.

Richard Meier: Frank just keeps moving on. Every time I see his new work I marvel at what it is, because it’s not like it’s based on anything he’s done before. It’s like he’s sort of starting again. You know, I don’t know many artists whose work is as varied and continually exciting the way Frank’s is.

Narrator: This is the last stop on our tour. Thank you for joining me today.