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Open 10:00–5:00

Visit
Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights
Through September 5
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
Open Call

Artists Reimagining the Collection
Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

A Putative Intention

1995

Tadeusz Nuckowski

Associated Names

Tadeusz Nuckowski

Artist, Polish, born 1948

The image shows a composition of bold black shapes interspersed with thin, winding lines running vertically across the canvas. This abstract piece includes forms reminiscent of crescents and circular arcs. The interlocking shapes and lines suggest a complex pattern resembling a cityscape viewed through rain-soaked windows, with the dark forms resembling silhouettes of buildings or machinery.

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Artwork overview

Medium

linocut in black on wove paper
Credit Line

Gift of Gerald Cerny
Dimensions

overall: 86.7 x 63.8 cm (34 1/8 x 25 1/8 in.)
Accession Number

1999.116.26

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gerald Cerny, Washington, D.C.; gift to NGA, 1999.

Associated Names

Cerny, Gerald

Inscriptions

by artist, across bottom in graphite: 3/15; putative intention ; Tadeusz Nuckowski 1995

Wikidata ID

Q75428856

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