Untitled

1976

Untitled, 1976. León Ferrari (Argentinian, 1920–2013). Pen and black ink on wove paper; sheet: 21.6 x 16.8 cm (8 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Jo Hershey Selden Fund 2019.171 © León Ferrari León Ferrari worked at a time of great political upheaval in his native Argentina. In response to this turmoil, the artist created the series of drawings to which this work belongs, which he termed “written paintings.” He used marks that resembled handwriting but were illegible upon closer examination. Suggesting the experience of artistic expression under a repressive regime, the drawings frustrate the viewer’s attempt to “read” them. In the year that this drawing was made, León Ferrari left Argentina in political exile and was unable to return for nearly two decades.