Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a watercolor drawing by Robert Longo. It dates from 1983 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Notes scrawled in the margins suggest a process of iterative development, revealing the drawing as a working document rather than a finished piece.
This double-sided drawing by Robert Longo, executed in 1983, combines graphite, watercolor, colored pencil, and acrylic on two joined sheets. The work presents contrasting imagery: a minimalist architectural form on one side and a detailed portrait on the reverse. Notes scrawled in the margins suggest a process of iterative development, revealing the drawing as a working document rather than a finished piece.
Subject & Meaning
The upper register depicts a stark, windowless structure, its geometry impersonal and detached. Below, a close-up of a man’s face—eyes closed, skin pallid, with a shadow beneath the nose—conveys vulnerability or exhaustion. The juxtaposition implies a tension between institutional anonymity and individual presence, possibly reflecting themes of alienation or psychological strain in modern life.
Technique & Style
Longo layered media with deliberate unevenness: watercolor bleeds into pencil lines, while smudges and erasures mark revisions. The architectural element is rendered with clean, reductive contours, contrasting with the face’s textured, almost tactile rendering. The inclusion of handwritten annotations—such as 'for character' and 'many many hours'—emphasizes the drawing’s role as a site of labor and introspection.
History & Provenance
Created in 1983, the work entered the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, where it remains part of its holdings of postwar American drawings. Its dual-sided format and experimental materials align with Longo’s broader practice of using drawing as a space for conceptual and emotional exploration, distinct from his more widely known large-scale charcoal works.
Context
In the early 1980s, Longo was engaged with the intersection of media, identity, and power, often drawing from film stills and public imagery. This piece reflects his interest in the human condition under systems of control, where the face becomes a site of private suffering against the backdrop of impersonal structures. The drawing’s unfinished quality mirrors the uncertainty of that era’s cultural climate.
Legacy
Untitled exemplifies Longo’s commitment to drawing as a medium of inquiry rather than mere representation. Its layered, annotated surface influenced later artists who treat the sketchbook as a record of thought. The work’s quiet intensity and formal duality continue to inform discussions on the emotional weight of draftsmanship in contemporary art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Robert Longo is an American artist, filmmaker, photographer and musician. Longo became first well known in the 1980s for his Men in the Cities drawing and print series, which depict sharply dressed men and women…
