Hatra I

Frank Stella's "Hatra I" (1967) is an acrylic on canvas painting from the later phase of Stella's protractor series. Hatra was an ancient city in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq), and the title reflects Stella's habit of naming his works after obscure historical or architectural references. The painting is based on the interlocking geometric shapes that characterize the protractor series: arcs, curves, and angles created with the help of the drafting tool. The acrylic paint allows for clean, sharp edges and flat areas of intense color. The composition is likely large-scale and dynamic, the forms pushing against the edges of the canvas. Stella's protractor paintings were a direct challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of Abstract Expressionism, replacing the personal gesture with impersonal geometric calculation. By 1967, Stella was already moving beyond the protractor series toward the more complex, shaped canvases and reliefs that would occupy him in the following decades.

Stella's protractor paintings were among the most radical works of the 1960s, redefining the possibilities of abstract painting through their systematic geometry and industrial precision.

This acrylic painting from the protractor series demonstrates Stella's commitment to geometric abstraction, the interlocking curves and intense colors creating a composition of machine-like precision.