Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by John Wesley. It dates from 1965 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1965, this untitled work by John Wesley is a lithographic print that forms part of a limited series of ten screenprints, one of which incorporates collage elements, alongside a single lithograph. The piece is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it is displayed among other mid‑century American prints.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a woman in a blue swimsuit, kneeling against a pale backdrop. She is surrounded by floating hands rendered in pink and blue, extending toward her from the edges of the image. The hands appear to hover just short of contact, lending the scene an ambiguous, dream‑like tension that invites contemplation of proximity and separation.
Technique & Style
Executed in lithography, the work relies on the traditional stone‑or‑metal plate process, allowing for subtle tonal variation and crisp line work.
Executed in lithography, the work relies on the traditional stone‑or‑metal plate process, allowing for subtle tonal variation and crisp line work. The artist’s handling of color—particularly the juxtaposition of cool blues with warm pinks—creates a visual rhythm that emphasizes the ethereal quality of the floating gestures. The overall style balances figurative representation with a slightly surreal atmosphere.
History & Provenance
John Wesley produced the piece in the mid‑1960s, a period marked by his exploration of print media. After its creation, the lithograph entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it has remained, documented in the museum’s catalogues as an example of Wesley’s printmaking practice during that decade.
Context
The work emerges from a broader movement of American artists in the 1960s who embraced printmaking as a means of reaching wider audiences while experimenting with narrative ambiguity. Wesley’s focus on everyday figures placed in uncanny settings reflects contemporary interests in the intersection of the ordinary and the surreal, aligning the piece with parallel developments in pop and minimalist art.
Artist & collection
Artist
John Wesley was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a principal leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism.
