Untitled
1981
charcoal
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
Untitled is a 1981 charcoal by Jim Dine, depicting seashell, held at Museum of Modern Art.
You see a big, messy scribble of keys—dozens of them—drawn in thick black lines on rough, tan paper. Dine made this in a cold Florida winter, far from his usual studio. The keys aren’t locked in place; they float, overlap, and almost vibrate. It’s like he grabbed a handful and threw them onto the page. If you like the energy of quick, bold marks, look up the technique of lithography.
