Untitled
1942
ink
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
Untitled is a 1942 ink by Alberto da Veiga Guignard, depicting rio de janeiro, held at Museum of Modern Art.
You see a tangle of thin black lines on white paper—houses, hills, and a church steeple all jumbled together. This is a quick sketch Guignard made before painting a bigger scene of Ouro Preto, an old Brazilian mining town. The lines are loose, almost scribbled, but they still show how the town clings to the hills. Look close: some lines cross over and over, making shadows without using gray. If you like how ink can feel alive, try cross-hatching.
