Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a crayon print by Jasper Johns. It dates from 1964 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1964, this untitled work by Jasper Johns combines a lithographic base with hand‑applied crayon marks. The composition features two elongated forms set against a dark, uneven field, one resembling a cup filled with rapid, gestural lines and the other a smooth, sideways oval. The paper support is light‑toned and textured, emphasizing the contrast between printed and drawn elements.
Technique & Style
The crayon strokes appear spontaneous, their irregularity suggesting a casual, almost accidental gesture that disrupts the flatness of the lithographic surface.
Johns employed traditional lithography to produce the underlying image, then overlaid it with crayon, allowing the immediacy of drawing to intersect with the reproducible nature of print. The crayon strokes appear spontaneous, their irregularity suggesting a casual, almost accidental gesture that disrupts the flatness of the lithographic surface. This hybrid approach reflects the artist’s interest in blurring the boundaries between media.
Subject & Meaning
The work presents abstracted, everyday shapes—a cup‑like vessel and an oval—rendered without explicit narrative. The hurried lines within the cup evoke the suggestion of scribbles or musical notation, inviting viewers to consider the tension between order and spontaneity. By stripping recognizable objects to basic forms, Johns encourages a focus on perception and the materiality of mark‑making.
History & Provenance
The piece entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it remains part of the institution’s holdings of mid‑century American art. Its acquisition underscores MoMA’s commitment to documenting Johns’s exploration of print media during a period when he was expanding his practice beyond painting and sculpture.
Context
During the early 1960s Johns was associated with movements such as abstract expressionism, Neo‑Dada, and the emerging pop art scene, though his work resists easy categorization. This lithograph exemplifies his engagement with reproducible techniques while retaining a painterly sensibility, reflecting broader postwar debates about originality, authorship, and the role of the artist’s hand in mass‑produced images.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker.
