The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2026

An etching and aquatint on horizontally oriented paper features a grid of thick, irregular black bands. These dark strokes define rectangular compartments packed with gestural, overlapping marks in gray and white. The heavy black ink contrasts against frenetic, scribbled textures within each cell. The composition fills the page, leaving thin margins where a signature and date are inscribed in the lower right corner.

Untitled

2016

Stanley Whitney

(American, 1946-)
printer

Mette Ulstrup, Julie Dam, Thomas Jennions

publisher

BORCH Editions, Copenhagen

America
Open bite etching and sugar lift aquatint
Plate: 49.5 x 62 cm (19 1/2 x 24 7/16 in.); Sheet: 74 x 82.5 cm (29 1/8 x 32 1/2 in.)
Gift of Linda and Jack Lissauer, M.D. in memory of Dr. Robert Kiwi 2025.133
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Stanley Whitney spent time in Ohio as a student at the Columbus College of Art and Design during the 1960s.

Description

Black American artist Stanley Whitney is known for his use of abstraction, often relying on the format of a grid as the basis for complex, layered geometric forms. Whitney draws influence from the syncopated rhythms of jazz music, echoing their movement through overlapping lines and shapes. The untitled print is one of a group of eight etchings that Whitney created in 2016 in collaboration with Copenhagen-based BORCH editions. While there, the artist explored the ways in which he could use various intaglio techniques to create a sense of spatial depth.
  • ?–?
    (Borch Editions, Copenhagen, Denmark)
    ?–2025
    Jack and Linda Lissauer, Shaker Heights, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 9, 2025–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled|url=false|author=Stanley Whitney, Mette Ulstrup, Julie Dam, Thomas Jennions, BORCH Editions, Copenhagen|year=2016|access-date=30 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2025.133