Untitled

ca. 1954

Not on view

Unlike most of Sterne’s paintings, prints, and drawings from this time, which represent abstracted figures or contain recognizable references to machines and urban landscapes, this work is unique in that it seems to have no concrete corollary in the phenomenal world. It is, essentially, a study in fluidity, in movement, and in mark-making. The marks are generally clustered into small bursts or larger clouds and they occupy mostly the outer edges of the paper. They seem to dance and skip across the support, unmoored from gravity and perspectival space. As a whole, the composition suggests a transient moment captured on the page.

Artwork Details

Overview

Inscriptions and Markings

Provenance

Title: Untitled
Artist: Hedda Sterne (American, Bucharest 1910–2011 New York, New York)
Date: ca. 1954
Medium: Black chalk on paper
Dimensions: 13 7/8 × 16 7/8 in. (35.2 × 42.9 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Clara Diament Sujo and Glenn Sujo, 2017
Object Number: 2017.172.3
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

By Hedda Sterne

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Untitled (Two-Sided Monotype), Hedda Sterne American, Monotype (recto); chalk over graphite with red colored pencil on paper (verso) — Untitled (Two-Sided Monotype)
Hedda Sterne
1949

New York #2, Hedda Sterne American, Oil on canvas — New York #2
Hedda Sterne
1953

Untitled, Hedda Sterne American, Transfer monotype drawing — Untitled
Hedda Sterne
ca. 1949

Machine, Hedda Sterne American, Oil on canvas — Machine
Hedda Sterne
1949

Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne American, Graphite on paper (recto) ; graphite on paper (verso) — Saul Steinberg
Hedda Sterne
1944

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.