Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a graphite drawing by herman de vries. It dates from 2003 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
This painting is a colored pencil drawing on paper with simple shapes and lines.
It's pretty basic at first glance.
The artist used colored pencils to create a unique piece, and what's interesting is that herman de vries made this in 2003, which might tell us something about his style at the time.
You can learn more about this style by looking into the technique of cross-hatching.
Overview
Created in 2003, this work by Dutch artist herman de vries is a colored‑pencil drawing on paper. The composition consists of elementary shapes and linear marks that give the piece a straightforward, almost schematic appearance. Though modest in visual complexity, the drawing reflects de vries’s long‑standing interest in natural forms, rendered here through a restrained, graphic language.
Technique & Style
The artist employed colored pencils, building tone and texture through layered cross‑hatching and overlapping strokes.
The artist employed colored pencils, building tone and texture through layered cross‑hatching and overlapping strokes. This method allows for subtle shifts in hue while preserving the crispness of line work. The simplicity of the forms, combined with the tactile quality of the pencil medium, exemplifies de vries’s shift from early painting toward a more graphic, drawing‑focused practice in his later career.
Subject & Meaning
While the drawing does not depict a specific scene, its abstracted shapes suggest botanical or organic references, echoing de vries’s lifelong engagement with plant motifs. The minimal visual vocabulary invites viewers to consider the essence of natural structures stripped of decorative detail, emphasizing form over representation.
History & Provenance
Herman de vries, born in 1931, has been active since the early 1950s, initially as a painter before turning to drawing. This 2003 piece entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it remains part of the institution’s holdings of contemporary drawing.
Context
The work emerges from a period when de vries was consolidating his practice around drawing and the exploration of nature through abstraction. By the early 2000s, his use of lowercase lettering for his name reflected a deliberate avoidance of hierarchical conventions, mirroring the egalitarian simplicity evident in the drawing’s visual language.
Artist & collection
Artist
Herman de Vries (born 11 July 1931 in Alkmaar) is a Dutch artist. He typically stylises his name in lower-case as herman de vries on his artwork 'to avoid hierarchy'. De Vries works and lives with his wife Susanne in…
