Untitled
1929
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
1929
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
Untitled is a 1929 by Vaclav Vytlacil, depicting fish, held at Museum of Modern Art.
You see a dark, smudgy print of a bowl and some fruit on a table. The shapes are soft, like someone pressed them into wet ink and then wiped parts away. This is a monotype—you make only one print, not a whole edition. Vytlacil probably drew on a smooth plate, then ran it through a press. The blurry edges come from moving the ink around with rags or fingers before printing. If you like how the light seems to glow from inside the fruit, look up the technique sfumato.
