Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Michael Morris. It dates from 1967 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1967, this untitled screenprint by Michael Morris belongs to a series of thirteen works produced that year, one of which includes hand‑added elements. The piece is part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection and exemplifies Morris’s interest in the interplay of geometric forms and color fields through the screen‑printing process.
Subject & Meaning
The composition divides the surface vertically. On the left, a series of thick, irregular blue lines meander across a white field, suggesting a spontaneous, gestural gesture. The right side presents a tightly ordered grid of orange squares intersected by blue rectangles, evoking the structure of a window pane and contrasting the free‑hand quality of the left side.
Technique & Style
Morris employed traditional screen‑printing techniques to lay down flat areas of pigment, then introduced hand‑drawn variations on the blue lines, giving them a wobbly, organic quality. The juxtaposition of precise, repeated orange units with the looser blue strokes highlights his exploration of controlled versus improvised mark‑making within a single planar field.
History & Provenance
The work was produced as part of a limited portfolio of thirteen screenprints in 1967, a year marked by Morris’s experimentation with color and modular patterns. It entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its creation, where it remains on view as part of the institution’s holdings of mid‑century American printmaking.
Context
During the late 1960s, Morris’s practice aligned with broader movements in abstract art that emphasized flat color, repetition, and the tension between systematic design and hand‑crafted intervention. This print reflects those concerns, positioning Morris alongside contemporaries who investigated the boundaries of print media as a vehicle for both precision and expressive gesture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Michael Morris D.F.A. was a British-born Canadian visual artist, archivist, educator, and curator. Morris has also completed successful works in film, photography, video, installation, correspondence art, and performance.
