Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Richard Nonas. It dates from 1972 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1972, this work consists of a portfolio containing twenty‑two offset lithographs and a single drawing that incorporates an offset lithograph collage. The pieces are compiled on pale‑yellow paper and are held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Subject & Meaning
The printed sheets bear only minimal text—"Details from the Excavation of Wooster Street" and the artist’s name—leaving the visual field empty. The absence of imagery functions as a document of what is not shown, echoing the notion of an archaeological record that notes presence through omission.
Technique & Style
Each sheet was produced by offset lithography, a process that transfers ink from a metal plate to a rubber blanket before printing onto paper. The accompanying drawing combines this lithographic material with collage, reflecting Nonas’s post‑minimalist interest in the physical qualities of surface and substrate.
History & Provenance
American artist and anthropologist Richard Nonas assembled the portfolio while based in New York City. The work entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its creation, where it remains part of the institution’s print holdings.
Context
Nonas’s training in anthropology informed his artistic practice, prompting an emphasis on materiality, spatial relations, and the recording of sites. The reference to an "excavation" on Wooster Street aligns the work with his broader concern for how objects and spaces are documented and interpreted.
Artist & collection
Artist
Richard Nonas (January 3, 1936 – May 11, 2021) was an American anthropologist and post-minimalist sculptor. He lived and worked in New York City.
