“Action painters adopted an attitude towards painting which was based a lot on an idea of all-over attack. But basically they were inconsistent. They didn’t really carry it out. In other words, it was supposed to be an all-over painting, but it ended up working with a kind of routine – to me – too much of a conventional push-pull. The other big thing was – as far as I was concerned – that all seemed to get in trouble in the corners.” — Frank Stella
Happy Birthday to Frank Stella, born on May 12, 1936. Here is an excerpt from Emile de Antonio’s rare and acclaimed 1973 documentary, ‘Painters Painting.’