Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a graphite drawing by Sam Durant. It dates from 1995 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Composed of four separate sheets of paper, each bearing a single chair rendered in pencil, the work is held in The Museum of Modern Art’s collection.
Sam Durant, born in 1961 in Seattle, created this 1995 drawing as part of a series exploring the quiet weight of everyday symbols. Composed of four separate sheets of paper, each bearing a single chair rendered in pencil, the work is held in The Museum of Modern Art’s collection. Its restrained format and deliberate simplicity reflect Durant’s interest in how ordinary objects carry cultural resonance.
Subject & Meaning
The four chairs depicted are unadorned, functional forms—commonplace, devoid of ornament. Their repetition suggests a cataloging impulse, inviting consideration of domestic life, labor, or absence. By isolating these chairs from context, Durant draws attention to their symbolic potential within American social structures, particularly those tied to civil rights and public space.
Technique & Style
Each chair is rendered with precise, fine pencil lines, emphasizing clarity over detail. The surrounding space is filled with dense cross-hatching, creating a visual contrast that gives the empty areas a tangible presence. This technique transforms the background from passive void into active element, reinforcing the tension between object and environment.
History & Provenance
Completed in 1995, the work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its creation. It emerged during a period when Durant was increasingly focused on historical narratives embedded in mundane forms. The drawing’s modest scale and material reflect his broader practice of using accessible media to engage with complex social themes.
Context
In the mid-1990s, Durant was part of a generation of artists re-examining American history through minimalist and conceptual frameworks. This drawing aligns with broader artistic inquiries into institutional memory and the politics of representation, where everyday items become stand-ins for larger societal structures and erasures.
Legacy
The work exemplifies Durant’s enduring interest in how simplicity can evoke layered meaning. Its inclusion in MoMA’s collection situates it within a lineage of conceptual drawings that prioritize idea over ornament. The piece continues to inform discussions on the quiet power of repetition and the symbolic weight of the ordinary in contemporary art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Sam Durant (born 1961, in Seattle) is a multimedia artist whose works engage social, political, and cultural issues.
