Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. It dates from 2016 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
This is a black-and-white portrait of a person’s head and shoulders, facing slightly to the side.
This is a black-and-white portrait of a person’s head and shoulders, facing slightly to the side. Their hair is short and curly, with a few strands sticking out. The background is plain, but there’s a small sketch of a building or fence in the corner.
The artist used lines and shading to create texture, especially in the hair and skin. The title isn’t given, but the piece was made in 2016.
Check out how the artist used etching to create this work.
Overview
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye created this black-and-white etching in 2016. It depicts a seated figure, rendered from the head through the shoulders, turned slightly away from the viewer. The work is part of The Museum of Modern Art’s collection and exemplifies the artist’s engagement with printmaking as a means to explore portraiture beyond photographic realism.
Subject & Meaning
The figure is anonymous, with no identifying details beyond their posture and expression. Their short, curly hair is rendered with deliberate, uneven lines, suggesting individuality without narrative context. The minimal background and faint architectural sketch in the corner introduce subtle spatial ambiguity, reinforcing the figure’s isolation and the work’s resistance to fixed interpretation.
Technique & Style
Using etching, Yiadom-Boakye employed fine, incised lines to build tone and texture, particularly in the hair and skin. The contrast between dense shadow and open areas creates depth without gradient. The sketch of a structure in the corner, loosely drawn, contrasts with the precision of the portrait, hinting at an unseen environment without anchoring the subject to a specific place.
History & Provenance
The work was produced in 2016 and entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly thereafter. It belongs to a series of prints in which Yiadom-Boakye expanded her painterly concerns into print media, exploring how the limitations of etching could inform the construction of imagined identities outside traditional portraiture conventions.
Context
This piece emerged during a period when Yiadom-Boakye was increasingly recognized for her focus on Black subjects rendered with psychological nuance and deliberate ambiguity. Her prints, like her paintings, avoid historical or cultural specificity, inviting viewers to engage with presence rather than biography, challenging expectations of representation in Western art.
Legacy
The etching contributes to a broader redefinition of portraiture in contemporary printmaking, emphasizing mood and presence over documentation. Yiadom-Boakye’s use of etching’s inherent constraints—its linearity, tonal limits—has influenced a generation of artists seeking to convey complexity through restraint, affirming the medium’s continued relevance in exploring identity.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye is a British painter and writer of Ghanaian heritage. She is best known for her portraits of imaginary subjects, or ones derived from found objects, which are painted in muted colours. Her work has…
