Untitled

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    Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio
1987
Marker and paint on paper
23.75 x 17.75 inches
Collection of
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Description

Murray had little formal education. He probably never learned to read or write. After a vision in 1978, he created his own style of cursive writing with which he inscribed many of his drawings and paintings. Murray’s writing gave him a power he believed could be used for the benediction and protection of himself and others. The inscriptions seem to have had specific meanings to him when he wrote them. There are some consistencies in his script, including a core group of marks, and at some future time perhaps it will be deciphered to some degree. It is entirely possible that Murray could read some or all of his own “writing.”