The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2026

A vertically oriented etching on cream paper features a large, dark gray rectangle of dense, overlapping lines. The texture resembles woven fabric with subtle horizontal bands of varying shades. A thin, indented line frames the central field, leaving wide margins. Handwritten pencil notations and a signature appear at the bottom. The composition emphasizes the intricate interplay of line and the tonal depth created by the fine, intersecting marks.

Untitled

1975

Charles Gaines

(American, 1944-)
publisher

Communications Village

(American, 1973-1983)
America
etching on wove paper
Image: 100.3 x 69.5 cm (39 1/2 x 27 3/8 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2023.167
© Charles Gaines Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Charles Gaines printed this etching himself on the press of Benjamin Wigfall, another important Black abstract artist half a generation older.

Description

Contemporary artist Charles Gaines was influential within the Conceptual Art movement, where he has explored methods of art making derived from systems beginning around 1970. Dominated by a dense and methodical system of marks, this etching features the grids for which Gaines is best known. He uses pre-determined and sometimes arbitrary rules for creating these structures, also drawing influence from Eastern spiritual writing on the meditative qualities inherent to producing such structures.
  • ?–2023
    Private Collection
    2023
    (Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 4, 2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled|url=false|author=Charles Gaines, Communications Village|year=1975|access-date=30 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.167