Untitled

Untitled

John Cage

1982

ink

From the collection of Museum of Modern Art

About this work

This painting looks like a bunch of thin, tangled lines on a light background. Some lines are straight and sharp, while others are wavy or scribbled. There’s a small greenish shape near the center, and a few spots of color—mostly blues and browns—scattered around. The whole thing feels loose, like someone quickly sketched with ink or pencil. The lines don’t form anything you’d recognize, which makes it feel more like a study in marks than a picture. It’s all about the lines themselves, not what they might represent. If you’re curious about how these marks were made, look up engraving.

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