Frank Stella | Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation I), 1970

A reproduction of Frank Stella’s 1970 painting Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation I) is part of the public art in Boston’s Seaport. The work comes from Stella’s acclaimed Protractor series and layers squares and circles crossed by the forms he called interlaces, rainbows and fans. Its abstract geometric compositions shift radically when viewed from different perspectives, and the Seaport version can be seen from different spots and angles across the neighborhood.

Stella, a native of Malden, Massachusetts, was a painter, sculptor and printmaker celebrated for his work in minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. His contribution to American art began in 1959 with his minimalist series of Black Paintings. The vibrant, colorful Seaport reproduction is meant to commemorate the neighborhood’s commitment to the arts and to create what its presenters call a cultural moment of new significance in Boston.

What to Know

• Damascus Gate is named after ancient sites in Asia Minor.
• Stella died in 2024 at age 87.
• The work is listed as public art in WS Development’s Seaport directory.