Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Joseph Kosuth. It dates from 1968 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Each sheet displays text arranged in a minimal grid against a neutral background, emphasizing language as the primary medium rather than imagery or color.
Joseph Kosuth’s Untitled (1968) is a set of four offset lithographs that present dictionary definitions of the word 'abstract.' Created as part of his early conceptual practice, the work rejects traditional visual representation in favor of linguistic inquiry. Each sheet displays text arranged in a minimal grid against a neutral background, emphasizing language as the primary medium rather than imagery or color.
Subject & Meaning
The work interrogates the nature of abstraction by presenting multiple dictionary definitions of the term. Rather than depicting abstraction visually, Kosuth uses language to expose how meaning is constructed and stabilized through institutional sources. The absence of imagery forces the viewer to confront the instability of words and the arbitrariness of definitions, challenging assumptions about art’s representational role.
Technique & Style
Kosuth employed offset lithography to reproduce typewriter-style text with mechanical precision. The layout is austere: white text on a dark gray field, divided by faint grid lines. No illustrative elements, textures, or color variations are present. This deliberate restraint aligns with conceptual art’s emphasis on idea over aesthetics, reducing the print to a neutral vessel for linguistic content.
History & Provenance
Created in 1968, Untitled emerged during a pivotal moment in conceptual art’s development. Kosuth, then based in New York, was exploring the relationship between language and meaning. The work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its creation, reflecting institutional recognition of conceptual practices. Its preservation underscores its role in redefining what constitutes an artwork in the late 20th century.
Context
Kosuth’s work responds to broader shifts in art theory during the 1960s, when artists questioned the primacy of the object and the authority of the artist’s hand. Drawing from analytic philosophy and semiotics, Untitled aligns with contemporaneous projects that treated language as material. It reflects a move away from formalist concerns toward systems of meaning, influenced by thinkers like Wittgenstein and Saussure.
Legacy
Untitled helped establish language as a legitimate medium in contemporary art, influencing generations of artists who prioritize conceptual frameworks over visual form. Its use of dictionary text became a touchstone for later works exploring semantics and institutional power. The piece remains a reference point in discussions about art’s capacity to question its own foundations through textual means.
Artist & collection
Artist
Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945) is an American conceptual artist, who lives in New York and Venice, after having resided in various cities in Europe, including London, Ghent and Rome.
