Untitled
1955
graphite
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
1955
graphite
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
This painting looks like a quick, messy sketch in black ink and pencil on paper. Shapes and lines tangle together—some look like bodies, others like splatters or scribbles. The background is mostly dark, while the lighter areas feel like they’re being pulled apart by the ink. The artist used lots of overlapping lines to build up the forms, almost like scribbling over and over. It’s not polished—it feels raw and fast. Try looking up cross-hatching to see how artists use layers of lines like this.