Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Nancy Spero. It dates from 1991 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1991, this lithographic print by American artist Nancy Spero presents a solitary, elongated figure rendered in stark black outline against a white field. The silhouette is filled with irregular patches of yellow, blue and green, while a surrounding layer of handwritten German text—some crossed out or smudged—adds a fragmented, urgent narrative.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, faceless and ambiguous, functions as a vessel for Spero’s ongoing investigation of conflict and bodily vulnerability. The repeated German phrase “das Fleisch schlägt auf” (the flesh strikes) and other hastily scrawled lines evoke a sense of fear, aggression, and protest, aligning the work with the artist’s broader feminist and anti‑war concerns.
Technique & Style
Executed as a hand‑pulled lithograph, the image combines traditional stone‑based printing with painterly application of color. Spero’s use of bold contour lines and vivid, uneven pigment fields creates a tension between graphic precision and expressive spontaneity, while the incorporated handwritten text blurs the boundary between image and text.
History & Provenance
Spero, who spent most of her career in New York and often collaborated with her husband, painter Leon Golub, produced this work during a period of heightened political activism in the early 1990s. The print forms part of a five‑decade oeuvre that consistently addressed war, violence, and cycles of life, reflecting her lifelong commitment to socially engaged art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Nancy Spero (August 24, 1926 – October 18, 2009) was an American visual artist known for her political and feminist paintings and hand pulled art prints.
