Untitled

Artist Joel Shapiro (American, born 1941)

Date1987

Dimensions77 x 59 3/4 in.

MediumCharcoal, chalk and pastel on paper

ClassificationDrawings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1988.42

Not on View

Label TextJoel Shapiro, who lives and works in New York City, emerged as a major figure in sculpture and drawing during the 1970s. Shapiro’s geometrically-grounded art “teeters” between the core issues of Modernism: abstraction and figuration. The geometric shapes in this drawing vaguely suggest a disjointed figure. The torso is at the bottom, with the limbs detached and scattered. This drawing is a monumental study of color, shape, forms in 2-dimensional space, geometry, abstraction, constructivism, and the nature of the drawing process. Shapiro drew the rectangles as dense, solid masses. In the space around them are tell-tale marks of rubbed or smudged charcoal that contribute to the overall tonality, and erasures that create highlights. The result is a drawing charged with the energetic hand-marks that went into its making.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Looks Good on Paper: Masterworks and Favorites, Oct. 10, 2014-Jan. 11, 2015.