Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Carmen Herrera. It dates from 2017 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
This picture has three big blocks of color. The top and sides are a dark green. The bottom and middle strip are bright yellow. The colors are flat and solid, with no shading or details.
The artist made this in 2017 using a printing method. The edges are crisp, and the colors stand out against the white border.
Look up lithography to see how this kind of print works.
Overview
The forms are rendered without gradation, their edges sharply defined against a surrounding white margin, exemplifying Herrera’s characteristic minimalism.
Untitled, produced in 2017, is a set of three lithographic prints by Carmen Herrera. Each sheet presents a stark arrangement of color fields: a dark green occupies the upper and lateral zones, while a vivid yellow fills the central and lower sections. The forms are rendered without gradation, their edges sharply defined against a surrounding white margin, exemplifying Herrera’s characteristic minimalism.
Subject & Meaning
The work abstracts space into pure geometric zones, reducing visual experience to the interaction of two saturated hues. By juxtaposing the cool green with the warm yellow, Herrera creates a balanced tension that invites contemplation of color relationships rather than narrative content, aligning with her lifelong pursuit of formal clarity.
Technique & Style
Executed as lithographs, the images rely on the stone‑or‑metal printing process, which allows for crisp, uniform application of flat color. Herrera’s precise registration and clean lines reflect her disciplined approach to abstraction, where each plane is rendered as an even, unmodulated surface, reinforcing the work’s minimalist aesthetic.
History & Provenance
Born in Havana in 1915, Herrera spent the majority of her artistic career in New York City, where her geometric abstractions achieved broader recognition in later decades. The 2017 portfolio marks a late‑career addition to her oeuvre, continuing the visual language that defined her work across the twentieth and twenty‑first centuries.
Context
Herrera’s practice aligns with mid‑century modernist movements that emphasized reduction, color, and form. Though her work gained prominence later in life, it resonates with contemporaneous minimalist tendencies, situating Untitled within a lineage of artists who prioritize spatial economy and chromatic purity over representational content.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carmen Herrera (May 31, 1915 – February 12, 2022) was a Cuban-born American abstract, minimalist visual artist and painter.
