Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a crayon drawing by Maurice Sterne. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Sterne, an American artist of Latvian origin, produced this work during a period of intense personal and artistic transition.
Created in 1916, this ink and crayon drawing by Maurice Sterne is a spontaneous, gestural composition on paper. Sterne, an American artist of Latvian origin, produced this work during a period of intense personal and artistic transition. It resides in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, where it reflects his engagement with expressive mark-making beyond his more widely known sculptural practice.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing evokes a turbulent natural environment without depicting a literal scene. Dark, layered strokes suggest storm-laden skies, while fragmented, angular forms below imply dense vegetation or rugged terrain. The absence of clear boundaries and identifiable elements shifts focus from representation to emotional resonance, conveying a sense of unrest or elemental force rather than a specific location.
Technique & Style
Sterne employed rapid, overlapping strokes of ink and crayon to build tonal depth and texture. The paper’s surface remains partially visible, enhancing the work’s raw, unfinished quality. Cross-hatching and smudged lines create contrast without smooth gradation, emphasizing immediacy. The technique prioritizes energy and rhythm over precision, aligning with early 20th-century explorations of expressive drawing.
History & Provenance
The drawing was made in 1916, the same year Sterne married Mabel Dodge Luhan, a prominent patron of modernist artists. While the work’s exact origin before entering MoMA’s collection is not documented, its inclusion in the museum’s holdings reflects early institutional interest in American modernist drawings that prioritized emotional intensity over traditional finish.
Context
In 1916, European modernism was influencing American artists to abandon academic conventions. Sterne’s drawing aligns with contemporaneous experiments in abstraction and expression, such as those by German Expressionists and early American modernists. It reflects a broader shift toward valuing the artist’s hand and emotional response over realistic depiction, particularly in works on paper.
Legacy
This drawing contributes to the understanding of Sterne’s lesser-known graphic work and the role of drawing in early American modernism. Its preservation in MoMA’s collection underscores the institutional recognition of spontaneous, non-illustrative mark-making as a legitimate artistic language, influencing later generations focused on process and materiality.
Artist & collection
Artist
Maurice Sterne (Latvian: Moriss Šterns, 1877 or 1878 – July 23, 1957) was an American sculptor and painter remembered for his association with philanthropist Mabel Dodge Luhan, to whom he was married from 1916 to 1923.
