Untitled from the portfolio Ur End Standart
A.R. Penck (Ralf Winkler)
German, 1939–2017
1972
A screenprint of sparse, calligraphic black marks on a white ground in which Penck distills drawing into primitive pictograms that read like a stripped‑down, invented language.
The vast white field is made strangely active by a few bold, uneven, brushlike strokes clustered in the corners, each mark reading like a fragment of code so that the empty center feels charged and silent.
By turning pictorial signs into a pared‑down visual code, Penck bridged graffiti, prehistoric mark‑making, and contemporary political expression, helping shape a symbolic vocabulary central to Neo‑Expressionism and conceptual art's interest in language and sign.
Medium
Screenprint
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 26 7/8 x 25 13/16" (68.2 x 65.6 cm); sheet: 27 1/2 x 27 1/2" (69.9 x 69.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mrs. Gilbert W. Chapman Fund
Accession
1089.1979.13
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
