Untitled
A.R. Penck (Ralf Winkler)
German, 1939–2017
1978
An untitled 1978 drypoint in which A.R. Penck scratches a dense field of gestural lines and primitive signs to suggest figures and landscape without settling into clear representation.
You’re first struck by a frenetic, scratched surface—layers of cross‑hatching and bold linear gestures that carve ambiguous shapes from shadow and light, like a modern cave painting or a weathered map.
This print exemplifies Penck’s development of a personal pictographic language in the late 1970s, showing how he reinvigorated printmaking for Neo‑Expressionism by using raw, shorthand marks to fuse primal symbolism with contemporary unease.
Medium
One from a portfolio of ten drypoints
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
435.1980.1
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
