Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Gary Hincks Ian Hamilton Finlay. It dates from 1991 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Untitled is a 1991 offset lithograph produced collaboratively by Ian Hamilton Finlay and Gary Hincks. The work belongs to the print collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it is displayed as an example of late‑20th‑century graphic experimentation.
Subject & Meaning
Each panel features a white, scythe‑like silhouette with a tiny circular handle, evoking the image of a reaper.
The composition consists of three vertical panels dominated by stark black and vivid red forms. Each panel features a white, scythe‑like silhouette with a tiny circular handle, evoking the image of a reaper. Adjacent to the visual elements, a brief quotation from the 17th‑century writer Abraham a Santa Clara reflects on death as a reaper, gardener, and player, linking the graphic motif to a meditation on mortality.
Technique & Style
Created as an offset lithograph, the piece employs the high‑contrast possibilities of the medium: flat expanses of black and red juxtaposed with crisp white outlines. The simplicity of the geometric shapes and the limited palette emphasize the graphic quality typical of Finlay’s text‑image collaborations, while the precise registration of text and image underscores the print’s mechanical production.
History & Provenance
The work was completed in 1991 and entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly thereafter, joining other prints that document the artists’ joint investigations into language, symbolism, and visual form. Its acquisition reflects MoMA’s interest in documenting the intersection of poetry and visual art during the late modern period.
Context
Finlay’s practice often merged poetry with visual objects, and his partnership with Hincks extended this dialogue into the realm of printmaking. The inclusion of a historical literary quotation situates the work within a broader tradition of referencing early modern texts to comment on contemporary concerns about death and the passage of time.
Artist & collection
Artist
Gary Hincks Ian Hamilton Finlay
Gary Hincks Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006) was a British artist.
