Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by Robert Indiana. It dates from 1990 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Executed in high-contrast red on a neutral ground, the piece features a sharply defined geometric form resembling a tilted diamond or lozenge.
Created in 1990, this screenprint by Robert Indiana belongs to his *Hartley Elegies* series, a body of work responding to the abstract paintings of Marsden Hartley. Executed in high-contrast red on a neutral ground, the piece features a sharply defined geometric form resembling a tilted diamond or lozenge. Its minimal composition and industrial precision reflect Indiana’s long-standing interest in symbolic shapes and commercial print techniques.
Subject & Meaning
The form lacks explicit narrative, inviting interpretation through abstraction. While rooted in Hartley’s early 20th-century modernist motifs, the shape evokes multiple associations—flag, emblem, or memorial marker—without fixing meaning. Indiana’s use of pure color and clean lines prioritizes emotional resonance over storytelling, aligning with the elegiac tone of the series as a meditation on loss and memory.
Technique & Style
Screenprinting allowed Indiana to achieve flat, saturated fields of color with unblended edges, reinforcing the work’s graphic clarity. The red pigment is applied uniformly, eliminating tonal gradation or texture. This method echoes commercial signage and American vernacular design, consistent with his Pop Art affiliations, yet stripped of irony or overt commentary, leaning toward quiet formalism.
History & Provenance
This print is one of many in the *Hartley Elegies* series, initiated in the late 1980s following Indiana’s renewed engagement with Hartley’s work. The series emerged after the artist’s personal losses and a return to Maine, where Hartley had lived. The prints were produced in limited editions, often signed and numbered, with this example likely originating from a 1990s publication run.
Context
Indiana’s shift from the overt word-based works of the 1960s to the *Hartley Elegies* marked a move toward introspection. The series reflects a broader 1980s trend among American artists revisiting modernist abstraction through personal and historical lenses. Unlike Pop Art’s celebration of consumer culture, these works engage with silence, absence, and the weight of artistic lineage.
Legacy
The *Hartley Elegies* series expanded Indiana’s reputation beyond his *LOVE* imagery, demonstrating his capacity for lyrical abstraction. Though less widely reproduced than his earlier works, these prints are held in major collections as key examples of late 20th-century American printmaking that bridges Pop, Minimalism, and memorial art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark; September 13, 1928 – May 19, 2018) was an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, associated with the pop art movement.
