Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a graphite drawing by Pasqualino Cangiullo. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Pasqualino Cangiullo’s 1916 drawing, titled Untitled, is executed in ink and pencil on graph paper. The work is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. It presents a densely packed interior scene rendered in a flat, diagrammatic manner, inviting close inspection of its numerous elements.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a crowded workshop or factory floor, where tables, machines and figures are arranged in tight proximity. Two handwritten signs—*Specchio* (mirror) and *una schiaffeggista futura*—appear above the scene, suggesting a playful or cryptic narrative that hints at humor or a private joke embedded in the bustling environment.
Technique & Style
Cangiullo employs simple, linear ink strokes combined with pencil shading on the ruled surface of graph paper, emphasizing angular geometry and a lack of perspective. The grid underlies the drawing, reinforcing a schematic quality and reinforcing the sense of an organized yet chaotic space.
History & Provenance
Created in 1916, the drawing entered the Museum of Modern Art’s holdings at an unspecified date, where it remains in the museum’s permanent collection. Its provenance prior to acquisition is not documented in the available records.
Context
The work emerges from the early twentieth‑century milieu of industrialization and the rise of mechanized labor, reflecting contemporary interest in the visual language of factories. Cangiullo’s choice of graph paper and the inclusion of textual elements align with avant‑garde experiments that blended drawing, design, and linguistic play.
Artist & collection
