Frank Stella was a generation younger than the ground-breaking Abstract Expressionists. Nevertheless, he shared their resolve to respect the flatness of the two-dimensional canvas and avoid creating the illusion of three-dimensional space. However, unlike many of the earlier artists, who were interested in the psychological power of abstraction, Stella focused on matter-of-fact physical and optical qualities, radically challenging viewers to consider what makes a painting a painting. Club Onyx is one of a series of 23 Black Paintings that Stella produced as a young artist between 1958 and 1959. While these works were given titles with personal associations for Stella (in this case, the name of both a New York City gay bar and a legendary jazz club), the titles were not intended to inspire a narrative reading of the pieces. Each work was made in a careful, calculated manner. Before applying paint to raw canvas, the artist used pencil to rule out the lines of the regular 2½ inch bands that define the composition. Using this simple pattern to draw attention to the flatness of the canvas and its rectangular shape, he sought to show that the painting itself is an object rather than a surface on which to represent other objects. Stella explained, “My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen there is there. It really is an object....What you see is what you see.”