Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an oil painting by the Abstract Expressionist artist Grace Hartigan. It dates from 1957 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1957, this untitled work by Grace Hartigan is an oil painting on canvas in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The composition is non‑representational, built from interlacing fields of blue, green and red, punctuated by flashes of white and yellow. The overall impression is one of kinetic energy, with forms that seem to surge and recede across the surface.
Technique & Style
Color is deployed in saturated blocks that bleed into one another, producing a sense of depth without relying on traditional perspective.
Hartigan applied the medium in vigorous, gestural strokes that reveal multiple layers of pigment. The brushwork is thick and tactile, allowing the texture of the paint to become part of the visual experience. Color is deployed in saturated blocks that bleed into one another, producing a sense of depth without relying on traditional perspective. The approach reflects the abstract expressionist emphasis on spontaneity and physicality.
Subject & Meaning
Absent a recognizable subject, the painting invites viewers to respond to the interplay of hue, line and surface. The convergence of cool blues and greens with warm reds, whites and yellows generates a rhythmic tension that suggests movement and emotional resonance rather than narrative content. The work functions as an exploration of visual sensation and the painter’s instinctual response to material.
History & Provenance
The canvas entered the Museum of Modern Art’s holdings after its creation, becoming part of the institution’s mid‑twentieth‑century American art collection. Its acquisition reflects MoMA’s commitment to documenting the development of abstract expressionism and to preserving Hartigan’s contributions to that movement.
Artist & collection
Artist
Grace Hartigan was an American abstract expressionist painter and a significant member of the vibrant New York School of the 1950s and 1960s.
