Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an oil painting by the Contemporary Abstract artist Anwar Jalal Shemza. It dates from 1964 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1964, this untitled oil on canvas by Pakistani‑British artist Anwar Jalal Shemza belongs to the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. The work is an abstract composition that foregrounds geometric forms in a strikingly flat field of color.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas is dominated by vivid red squares intersected by stark white rectangles. Central to the arrangement is a cluster of overlapping circles that soften the rigid grid, suggesting a tension between order and fluidity within the abstract space.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil, the white areas display a gritty, sand‑like texture that contrasts with the smooth, uniform red background. The juxtaposition of crisp geometric edges and the tactile surface highlights Shemza’s interest in merging precise design with painterly materiality.
History & Provenance
Since its acquisition by the Museum of Modern Art, the painting has been exhibited as part of the institution’s mid‑twentieth‑century abstract holdings, illustrating Shemza’s contribution to the development of geometric abstraction in the 1960s.
Artist & collection
Artist
Anwar Jalal Shemza was an artist and writer active in Pakistan and later the United Kingdom.
