Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Peter Phillips. It dates from 1965 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
If you're interested in more works like this, you could check out the artist, Peter Phillips.
This image shows a woman with blonde hair, wearing a red bow tie and blue pants. She is sitting on a blue and silver object that looks like a car. The background is yellow with black lines and red shapes.
The woman is looking at the viewer with her hands up to her face. The car-like object has a curved front and a long, pointed hood. The background has a grid pattern with diagonal lines and red shapes that look like flames.
The image is a screenprint with collage additions, published in 1966. If you're interested in more works like this, you could check out the artist, Peter Phillips.
Overview
Untitled is a screenprint from a 1966 portfolio of ten works by Peter Phillips, with one variant incorporating collage elements. It was produced alongside a single lithograph, though this piece is not the lithograph itself. The print reflects Phillips’s engagement with Pop Art’s visual language, drawing from mass media and consumer culture. It was published as part of a limited edition, reflecting the era’s interest in reproducible art forms.
Subject & Meaning
The image depicts a woman with blonde hair, wearing a red bow tie and blue pants, seated on a stylized, car-like form. Her hands are raised near her face, suggesting contemplation or alarm. The composition merges human presence with mechanical forms, evoking themes of identity, alienation, and the influence of automotive culture. The abstracted background, with flame-like shapes and grid lines, amplifies a sense of tension between order and chaos.
Technique & Style
Phillips employed screenprinting with selective collage additions to layer textures and imagery. Bold, flat colors—yellow, red, blue, and silver—define the forms, while black lines create structural contrast. The background’s diagonal grid and abstract red shapes suggest motion or energy, aligning with Pop Art’s fascination with graphic design and advertising aesthetics. The collage elements introduce tactile variation, disrupting the print’s uniformity.
History & Provenance
Created in 1965 and published in 1966, Untitled was part of a portfolio that positioned Phillips among British Pop artists exploring commercial imagery. The work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection, where it remains as part of its holdings in postwar printmaking. Its inclusion reflects institutional recognition of Pop Art’s significance in redefining print media during the 1960s.
Context
Emerging in mid-1960s Britain, Phillips’s work responded to the saturation of advertising, television, and automotive culture. The car motif and stylized figure echo the era’s obsession with technology and celebrity. Unlike American Pop artists, Phillips often infused his imagery with psychological unease, blending the familiar with the uncanny. This piece aligns with contemporaneous explorations of identity in a media-saturated world.
Legacy
Untitled contributes to the broader recognition of British Pop Art as distinct from its American counterpart, emphasizing conceptual depth alongside visual immediacy. Phillips’s use of collage within screenprinting influenced later artists experimenting with hybrid media. The work remains a reference point in discussions of how printmaking expanded the boundaries of Pop Art beyond painting and poster design.
Artist & collection
Artist
Peter Mark Andrew Phillips is a British businessman and member of the British royal family.
