(Untitled) (Collage)
1963
Medium
pen and ink, brush and ink, wash, collage
Measurements
13.4 × 23.4 cm (comp.) 16.0 × 25.4 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of James Mollison, 1981
© Andrew Klippel/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Robert Klippel believed that artists should ‘create as nature creates’. This conviction led him to embrace deliberately unpredictable techniques in his compositions – such as splattering ink – as he regarded ‘chance’ to be an essential element in all natural growth processes. While Klippel’s working method shared some resemblance to Surrealist attempts to directly channel the subconscious in artmaking, his process remained distinct, merging chance operations with conscious artistic interventions. In this collage, Klippel combines photographs of machine parts and energetic pen lines. Drawn over a grey wash ground while the surface was still damp, pen ink has bled unpredictably, causing some lines to resemble frost-coated tree branches.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in pen and ink (in image) l.r.: 17/7/63
Accession Number
P89-1981
Department
Australian Prints & Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest