Untitled

Elizabeth Murray gained recognition in the 1980s for her large paintings on irregularly shaped canvases, combining sophisticated painterly techniques with cartoonish imagery. In the same style she also created sensuous drawings in pastel and charcoal, such as this one, one of the first in which she conjoined several sheets of various format. Its subject, a tipped cup and saucer, is one of her signature motifs. In addition to its personal symbolism, it was here, in the artist's words, "a vehicle for exploring a variety of ways of working with charcoal."