Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Carmen Herrera. It dates from 2019 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 2019, this untitled work by Carmen Herrera is a print that presents a large, perfectly round form divided into two hemispherical fields. The upper half is a uniform blue, the lower half a solid red, meeting along a straight, near‑top seam that resembles a cleanly cut slice. The surface is flat and untextured, emphasizing the stark contrast of the two colors.
Subject & Meaning
The composition reduces visual experience to pure geometry and color, a hallmark of Herrera’s minimalist approach. By juxtaposing primary hues within a single circular field, the piece invites contemplation of balance, tension, and the interplay of opposing yet complementary forces, without reference to narrative or external symbolism.
Technique & Style
Executed with aquatint printed in relief and enhanced through chine collé, the work combines a tonal printing method with a paper‑collage technique that secures a thin, high‑quality substrate onto the print surface. This process yields the smooth, matte fields and the sharply defined edge where the blue and red meet, reinforcing the work’s precise, hard‑edge aesthetic.
History & Provenance
Carmen Herrera, a Cuban‑born artist who relocated to New York City in the mid‑1950s, achieved broader recognition late in her career. This 2019 print entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it is catalogued as part of the institution’s holdings of contemporary abstract works.
Context
The piece aligns with Herrera’s longstanding visual language of geometric abstraction, which she refined over decades of practice in the United States. Its minimalist reduction echoes the broader post‑war movements that emphasized formal purity, while its use of primary colors recalls the legacy of early 20th‑century constructivist and Bauhaus experiments.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carmen Herrera (May 31, 1915 – February 12, 2022) was a Cuban-born American abstract, minimalist visual artist and painter.
