Frank Stella (b. 1936) is one of the most dominant and influential figures in abstract painting. Today Stella is primarily known for his minimalist geometric paintings, in which he explored the narrative possibilities of shape and color beyond symbolic meaning. In 1970 he became the youngest artist ever to be granted a solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art. Stella's design of a multicolored ''M'' was selected in 1970 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the centennial symbol. In addition to limited edition commemorative medals and silk screen posters, the design was also reproduced on a handful of large wood panels that decorated a fence along 5th Avenue, some of which were purchased by major collectors and museums. Stellas works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.