Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by R. B. Kitaj. It dates from 1966 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Untitled is a 1966 screenprint by the British-American artist R. B. Kitaj, included in a limited portfolio of fifteen works. The piece is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is presented as a single sheet print rather than a series.
Subject & Meaning
The composition juxtaposes vivid, flat color fields with a stark black‑and‑white photograph of an industrial factory floor. Repeatedly stamped in the colored sections is the word “RAT,” a graphic element that functions like a warning label or a recurring motif, while the red‑orange vertical slash bisects the photographic scene, suggesting an intrusion or disruption.
Technique & Style
Kitaj employed screen‑printing to layer bold, saturated hues—pink borders, yellow panels, and black hand‑print silhouettes—against the photographic base. The method allows precise repetition of text and shapes, while the photographic element retains its documentary quality, creating a tension between painterly abstraction and realistic imagery.
History & Provenance
Created as part of a fifteen‑print portfolio in 1966, the work entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection through acquisition shortly after its production. Its inclusion in MoMA reflects the institution’s interest in mid‑century American printmaking and Kitaj’s experimental approach to mixed media.
Context
During the mid‑1960s Kitaj explored the integration of photographic sources with painted or printed surfaces, a practice that aligned with broader Pop Art concerns about mass media and consumer culture. The industrial scene and the repeated “RAT” text echo contemporary anxieties about labor, mechanization, and surveillance.
Legacy
Untitled exemplifies Kitaj’s early experimentation with the dialogue between image and text, a strategy that would inform his later paintings and drawings. The work remains a reference point for scholars studying the convergence of print techniques and photographic appropriation in post‑war American art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Ronald Brooks Kitaj was an American artist who spent much of his life in England.
