"If you follow an edge of a given work visually and follow it through quickly, you find the sense of rhythm and movement that you get in music."

— Frank Stella

K.3 (Large Version) (2007) by the esteemed American artist Frank Stella is a striking masterpiece, celebrated for its vibrant colors, bold geometric forms, and dynamic presence. This artwork is part of Stella's Scarlatti Kirkpatrick series, which he began in 2006, distinguished by fluid shapes that vividly capture the lively sounds and rhythms of Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti's harpsichord sonatas. The series' title also pays homage to Ralph Kirkpatrick, a Yale musicologist and harpsichordist, who significantly contributed to the popularity of Scarlatti’s works and compiled the definitive catalog of his sonatas in 1953. Stella's creations, akin to the sonatas, are identified by "K" numbers, highlighting a direct link to Scarlatti’s music while also abstractly resonating through a similar visual rhythm. K.3 (Large Version), together with 16 other works from the Scarlatti Kirkpatrick series displayed at Kasmin Gallery’s Frank Stella: New Work exhibition in 2007, demonstrates Stella's exceptional ability to merge two-dimensional art with three-dimensional effects, challenging traditional painting boundaries and viewer perceptions. The series signifies Stella’s artistic progression from painting to wall relief and from free-standing sculpture to architectural elements. This evolution underscored the concurrent exhibitions with Kasmin Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that summer: Frank Stella on the Roof and Frank Stella: Painting into Architecture, marking the artist's first solo presentation at the Met.

The tableau presented in K.3 (Large Version) transcends two-dimensional boundaries as its silver tubing extends and projects into the surrounding space. A polychromatic polyhedron floats buoyantly between the metal springs, appearing to defy gravity. Its bold colors and geometric complexity draw the eye, creating a focal point that contrasts with the fluidity of the surrounding tubes. Crowning the structure sits a constellation of twisted white shapes, resembling a wavy musical staff. These forms add a lyrical quality, suggesting movement and rhythm, perhaps hinting at its musical inspiration. K.3 (Large Version) decisively achieves the artist's vision of merging painting, relief, and sculpture. It harnesses the expansive potential of three-dimensional space, embodying Stella's assertion that “painting does not want to be confined by boundaries of edge and surface.”