Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Joseph Kosuth. It dates from 1966 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Created in 1966, this work consists of a light‑beige envelope bearing a rubber‑stamp addition and enclosing fifteen offset lithographs.
About this work
The artist used basic materials to make something that feels both ordinary and strange at the same time.
This is a blank, light beige envelope with black text printed at the top. The words read *"NOTEBOK ON WATER 1965-66"* and *"JOSEPH KOSUTH."* The paper feels smooth, and there’s a faint stamp mark in the corner—just a small, simple design.
This isn’t a painting or a drawing. It’s part of a set of printed objects, like a mix of mail and art. The artist used basic materials to make something that feels both ordinary and strange at the same time.
If you’re curious about how artists use printing to make art, look up *lithography*.
Overview
Created in 1966, this work consists of a light‑beige envelope bearing a rubber‑stamp addition and enclosing fifteen offset lithographs. It belongs to a series of nineteen printed objects assembled by the artist, presenting a modest, mail‑like object that functions as a conceptual artwork rather than a conventional picture.
Subject & Meaning
The envelope bears the inscription “NOTEBOOK ON WATER 1965‑66” and the artist’s name, foregrounding language as the primary content. By treating a mundane carrier of correspondence as an art object, the piece foregrounds the relationship between text, documentation and the definition of art, inviting viewers to consider how meaning is generated through ordinary signs.
Technique & Style
The work combines basic printing processes: offset lithography for the fifteen interior images and a rubber stamp for the external mark. The minimal visual treatment—smooth paper, sparse black lettering—reflects a reductive aesthetic, emphasizing concept over material elaboration and aligning with the artist’s broader use of text‑based, low‑tech interventions.
History & Provenance
Produced while the artist was active in New York and Venice, the envelope forms part of a larger portfolio of printed objects that documented his early investigations into semiotics. The series was assembled as a cohesive body of work, circulating among galleries and collectors interested in the emerging conceptual art movement of the mid‑1960s.
Context
Emerging during a period when artists were questioning the boundaries of art, the piece aligns with contemporaneous experiments that privileged ideas over traditional media. Its focus on language and the use of everyday materials echo the concerns of conceptual peers who sought to dissolve the distinction between art objects and ordinary documents.
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.
