Who painted Untitled?

Untitled was painted by Álvaro Barrios in 1978.

Where can I see Untitled?

Untitled is held by Museum of Modern Art.

Untitled by Álvaro Barrios (1978) — Meaning & Museum

About this work

Below it, there’s a black-and-white photo of a woman in a dark dress standing near a metal gate.

This image looks like an old newspaper clipping. The headline reads *"Marcel Duchamp, diez años después"* (Marcel Duchamp, ten years later). Below it, there’s a black-and-white photo of a woman in a dark dress standing near a metal gate. The gate has a sign that says *"APOLINÈRE ENAMELED"* in bold letters. The newspaper’s text is in Spanish, and the date at the top is *1 de Octubre de 1978*.

The clipping is part of a supplement called *"del Caribe"* from Barranquilla, Colombia. The photo seems to be a reproduction of Duchamp’s work, but it’s framed like a news story. The text talks about Duchamp’s influence and how his ideas changed art.

For more on this kind of printed art, look up *lithography*.

Overview

Álvaro Barrios produced a photolithograph in 1978 that is catalogued by the Museum of Modern Art. The work is untitled and presents a fabricated newspaper page, merging text and image in a single printed surface.

Subject & Meaning

The composition mimics a newspaper clipping dated 1 October 1978, featuring a headline that references Marcel Duchamp ten years after his death. Below the headline, a monochrome photograph shows a woman in a dark dress beside a metal gate marked with the bold sign “APOLINÈRE ENAMELED,” suggesting a dialogue with Duchamp’s readymade concepts and the broader impact of his ideas on contemporary art.

Technique & Style

Barrios employed photolithography, a process that transfers a photographic image onto a lithographic stone or plate for mass printing. The resulting image retains the grainy texture of newspaper print, emphasizing the interplay between fine art and everyday media while preserving the stark black‑and‑white aesthetic of the reproduced photograph.

History & Provenance

Created in 1978, the lithograph entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it remains part of the institution’s holdings. Its provenance traces directly from the artist’s studio to MoMA, with no recorded intermediate owners.

Context

The piece appears within a fictitious supplement titled “del Caribe” from Barranquilla, Colombia, situating the work in a Latin American publishing context. By framing the image as a news article, Barrios comments on the dissemination of avant‑garde ideas across cultural borders during the late 20th century.

Legacy

Barrios’s lithograph exemplifies the use of print media to interrogate art history, echoing the strategies of appropriation and conceptual critique pioneered by Duchamp. It continues to be referenced in discussions of how artists employ mass‑produced formats to question authorship and the circulation of artistic influence.