Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an oil painting by the Contemporary Abstract artist Dana Schutz. It dates from 2005 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Central to the composition is an oversized fish lying on a table, surrounded by outstretched hands, rendered in a vivid palette of yellows, oranges and reds.
Created in 2005, this untitled oil on canvas by Dana Schutz belongs to the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. The work presents an abstracted scene populated by numerous figures of varying ages, some gazing directly at the viewer, others looking away. Central to the composition is an oversized fish lying on a table, surrounded by outstretched hands, rendered in a vivid palette of yellows, oranges and reds.
Subject & Meaning
The painting juxtaposes a crowd of human silhouettes with a monumental fish, suggesting a communal focus on a shared object or experience. The varied clarity of faces—some blurred, others sharply detailed—may hint at differing levels of awareness or engagement among the observers, while the central fish could symbolize abundance, vulnerability, or a collective desire.
Technique & Style
Schutz employs a thick impasto application, building up layers of paint that give the fish and tabletop a near‑sculptural relief. The texture contrasts with smoother areas of the surrounding figures, enhancing depth and emphasizing the painting’s tactile quality. Warm, saturated hues dominate, creating a lively visual rhythm that reinforces the work’s abstract yet figurative tension.
History & Provenance
After its completion in 2005, the painting entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects MoMA’s ongoing commitment to contemporary American painting and to artists who explore narrative ambiguity through painterly experimentation.
Context
Dana Schutz emerged in the early 2000s as part of a generation of painters reviving figurative abstraction. This work aligns with her broader practice of combining vivid color, exaggerated scale, and surreal juxtapositions to interrogate everyday scenes, situating it within a larger discourse on post‑modern representation.
Artist & collection
Artist
Dana Schutz is an American artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Schutz is known for her gestural, figurative paintings that often take on specific subjects or narrative situations as a point of departure.
