Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a gouache drawing by Amy Cutler. It dates from 2023 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Amy Cutler’s Untitled, created in 2023, is a gouache drawing on paper held in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. The work presents a quiet, otherworldly scene that blends domestic imagery with natural elements in unexpected ways. Its scale and medium suggest intimate contemplation, contrasting with the surreal narrative it unfolds.
Subject & Meaning
Three figures, clad in green, shell-like garments, float midair while holding household objects—a house, a flag—and an oar.
Three figures, clad in green, shell-like garments, float midair while holding household objects—a house, a flag—and an oar. A bear below bites one of the oars, suggesting a fragile, uneasy interaction between human effort and wild force. The scene resists literal interpretation, instead evoking themes of labor, displacement, and the weight of inherited roles through symbolic, dreamlike juxtaposition.
Technique & Style
Cutler employs gouache for its opaque, matte quality, allowing precise detail and layered color without gloss. The figures and objects are rendered with delicate linework and flattened perspective, enhancing the dreamlike dislocation. Background elements—twigs, debris, a cliffside pile of flags—are rendered with quiet precision, grounding the fantasy in tactile, earthly textures.
History & Provenance
The work was completed in 2023 and entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly thereafter. It is part of a recent body of work by Cutler that continues her exploration of gendered labor and mythic domesticity. No prior exhibition or private ownership history is publicly documented beyond its acquisition by the museum.
Context
Cutler’s practice engages with folk narratives and feminist reinterpretations of traditional roles. Untitled aligns with her broader interest in transforming domestic symbols—textiles, tools, shelter—into surreal, bodily extensions. The piece reflects contemporary artistic dialogues around agency, nature, and the uncanny, without direct reference to specific historical events.
Legacy
As part of Cutler’s evolving oeuvre, Untitled contributes to a sustained investigation into how women’s labor is visually coded and emotionally burdened. Its inclusion in MoMA signals institutional recognition of her unique visual language, which blends narrative ambiguity with meticulous craftsmanship, influencing younger artists working in figurative surrealism.
Artist & collection
Artist
Amy Cutler is an American contemporary artist. Cutler received her BFA degree from The Cooper Union School of Art, New York, New York, in 1997. Her work has been featured in major surveys of contemporary art, most…
