Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a photographic photography by John Taylor Roberts. It is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The image is a black‑and‑white photograph mounted on a green backing card.
About this work
Overview
The image is a black‑and‑white photograph mounted on a green backing card. It depicts a spiraling stone column topped with a flat, circular slab, reminiscent of a table. Two diminutive, rounded figures cling to the column midway, their bodies smooth while faces and hands appear unfinished, giving the impression of partially sculpted forms.
Subject & Meaning
The composition juxtaposes an ambiguous architectural element with human‑like forms that seem both supportive and trapped. The figures’ awkward posture suggests a tension between assistance and confinement, inviting contemplation of the relationship between the built environment and the bodies that interact with it.
Technique & Style
Captured in monochrome, the photograph emphasizes texture and contrast, highlighting the stone’s uneven surface and the rough treatment of the figures’ features. The stark lighting accentuates the spiral twist of the column and the interplay of smooth and jagged planes, reinforcing a sculptural quality within the two‑dimensional medium.
History & Provenance
The print forms part of a collection assembled by William Kineton Parkes, a noted scholar of sculpture, who bequeathed his holdings in 1938. Parkes had circulated questionnaires to sculptors during the 1920s, and this image is one of the visual responses he received. The entire assemblage now resides in the Archive of Art and Design.
Context
Situated within a broader archive of sculptural documentation, the photograph reflects early twentieth‑century efforts to record and analyze contemporary sculptural practice. Parkes’s initiative to solicit visual material from artists provides insight into the experimental forms and thematic concerns of the period, situating the work within a network of artistic exchange.
Artist & collection
Artist
John Taylor Roberts lugged his big wooden camera around 1880s New York rooftops at dusk, chasing the last light on tin roofs and fire escapes.
