Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a graphite painting by the Contemporary Abstract artist Carroll Dunham. It dates from 1997 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Created in 1997, this work combines synthetic polymer paint, urethane paint, and pencil on linen.
About this work
Overview
Cartoonish figures with elongated limbs emerge from the upper edge, while a white background is overlaid with a faint grid of pencil‑drawn shapes.
Created in 1997, this work combines synthetic polymer paint, urethane paint, and pencil on linen. The composition features a bright assemblage of green, yellow, and blue forms that suggest a architectural or maritime shape, punctuated by windows, doors, and a profusion of scribbled lines. Cartoonish figures with elongated limbs emerge from the upper edge, while a white background is overlaid with a faint grid of pencil‑drawn shapes.
Subject & Meaning
The painting juxtaposes a simplified, almost toy‑like structure with whimsical, anthropomorphic characters, inviting a playful dialogue between the built environment and the human figure. The varied heads, some topped with hats or objects, suggest individuality within a collective setting, while the surrounding grid hints at underlying order beneath the apparent chaos.
Technique & Style
Dunham employs a layered approach, applying glossy synthetic polymer and urethane paints to achieve vivid, saturated color fields, then inscribing linear details with pencil. The contrast between flat, matte areas and the reflective sheen of urethane creates depth, while the loose, gestural marks reinforce his characteristic blend of abstraction and figurative suggestion.
History & Provenance
The piece entered the collection of the Museum of Modern Art shortly after its creation, reflecting the institution’s interest in late‑20th‑century American painting. Its acquisition aligns with a period when MoMA expanded its holdings of contemporary abstract works that incorporate conceptual strategies.
Context
Emerging in the late 1990s, the work belongs to a broader resurgence of painting that followed the dominance of conceptual and minimalist practices in the 1970s. Dunham’s practice, active since the late 1970s, is noted for merging abstract forms with figurative motifs, situating this painting within the ongoing dialogue between formal experimentation and narrative reference in contemporary art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carroll Dunham (born November 5, 1949) is an American painter. Working since the late 1970s, Dunham's career reached critical renown in the 1980s when he first exhibited with Baskerville + Watson, a decade during which…
