Untitled

About this work

You see a long, narrow screenprint filled with jagged black lines on a pale background. The shapes look like letters or musical notes, but they don’t quite form words or a tune. Shahn made this in 1950, when many artists were experimenting with abstract forms. The title, *Silent Music*, hints that the marks might be a kind of visual sound—something you "hear" with your eyes instead of your ears. The print feels restless, like a page of sheet music that’s been scribbled over and erased. If you like how Shahn turns ideas into simple, bold lines, look up the technique impasto.