Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an oil painting by the Contemporary Abstract artist Jo Baer. It dates from 2009 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 2009, this oil work on unstretched canvas by Jo Baer is part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. The composition combines vivid hues with abstracted forms, arranging a series of figures, a moon‑like disc, a tree, and scattered feathers within a loosely defined spatial framework.
Subject & Meaning
The left side presents three translucent silhouettes within a blue rectangle, two rendered in stark white, the third outlined in red and black, suggesting a sense of incompleteness. Adjacent, a solitary figure in a draped garment stands beneath a reflective, metallic‑appearing moon, accompanied by a perched bird, while a twisted, dark tree dominates the right, its branches interlaced with scattered feathers.
Technique & Style
Baer employs oil paint on an unstretched support, allowing the surface to remain flexible and the edges to remain undefined. The palette is bold, juxtaposing saturated blues, reds, and deep blacks with lighter, almost ethereal whites. The forms oscillate between outline and solid fill, creating a tension between presence and suggestion.
History & Provenance
The painting entered the Museum of Modern Art’s holdings after its acquisition in the early 2010s, joining a broader representation of Baer’s late‑period experiments with color and abstraction. Its provenance traces directly to the artist, with no intervening private ownership recorded.
Artist & collection
Artist
Josephine Gail Baer was an American painter associated with minimalist art. She began exhibiting her work at the Fischbach Gallery, New York, and other venues for contemporary art in the mid-1960s. In the mid-1970s, she…
