Calling a work Untitled is actually somewhat unusual for Gene Davis, an artist who prided himself on the fanciful names he came up with for his work, a good portion of which consisted of a series of vertical stripe paintings that he created over the course of 25 years beginning in the late 50's.

He admitted that he did not really know how to draw very well. These works were neatly painted with masking tape usually in acrylic paint on unprimed canvases in all sizes as a reaction to the 'messiness of abstract expressionism'. The Smithsonian quotes Davis as saying "instead of simply glancing at the work, select a specific color and take the time to see how it operates across the painting. Enter the painting through the door of a single color, and then you can understand what my painting is all about." In discussing his stripe work, Davis spoke not simply about the importance of color, but about 'color interval:' the rhythmic, almost musical, effects caused by the irregular appearance of colors or shades within a composition.

Davis operated at all scales. On one end were the micropaintings that measure a few inches. At the other he covered streets with painted stripes. In 1972 the same year as the Untitled print was created, he painted what was then reputed to be the World's largest painting: Franklin's Footpath stretching 414 feet along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum towards City Hall.