Untitled

Untitled

Willi Baumeister

1944

charcoal

From the collection of Museum of Modern Art

About this work

This sketch is all rough lines and smudges. You see a crowd of blurry figures, some overlapping, others half-hidden. The colors are muted—mostly gray, brown, and a few pale yellows and greens. The background looks like tangled trees or maybe just scribbled shapes. Nothing is sharp or clear. The artist used charcoal, pressing hard in some spots to make dark patches. The paper shows through in places, giving it a scratchy, uneven feel. It’s like a quick, messy drawing that still holds your eye. If you like this style, check out scumbling.

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