Brice Marden

(American, b.1938)

Untitled

1971
Etching
Edition of 50
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Sheet: 23 1/8 x 29 3/8 inches (58.73 x 74.61 cm)

Price on request

Etching printed in black from one plate, a fine, fresh impression of the only known state, the full sheet, printed on white Arches paper, with margins, signed, dated and numbered in pencil by the artist, executed in an edition of 50 (there were also some Artist’s Proofs and 7 stage proofs), printed by Nona Hershey, New York, published by Parasol Press, New York,, in fine condition, framed.

Reference:

Lewison, Jeremy. Brice Marden: Prints 1961-1991. 1992, London, Tate Gallery, p.93, no.19, illustrated (another example).

Note:

Made alongside Grid I (Lewison 17) and Grid II (Lewison 18) the present work consists of three adjoining panels moving from light to dark to intermediate, reading from left to right. In addition to the edition of fifty, seven stage proofs are known to exist, puls a further proof printed by Kathan Brown at a later date.

Tone is created by hatching rather than by aquatint. Its strength is determined by both the density of marks and th length of time th plate has been exposed to the acid.

The stage proofs indicate that the right-hand panel of the print began as a series of “combed” horizontal marks together with an incomplete elliptical mark above the center of the left panel. The combed marks were created by a threaded rod. There were also some vertical sweeps. Marden continued by drawing lines, making the horizontal marks less evident, possibly because they subverted the uniformity of the plane. The central panel also became progressively denser although the changes between states were less marked than in the right panel. He drew a line around the edges of the plate and in between each panel for definition. The panels are distinguished from one another not only by tone but by the rhythms and directions of the marks.

Untitled relates very closely to a drawing, Untitled 1969 (reproduced Sotheby’s New York Contemporary Art Part II, 14 November 1991, lot 147) which is slightly larger but has the same sequence of tones. In its tripartite division the print also compares with a number of paintings, among them Grand Street (1969) and Point (1969).