Two small sketches for Untitled appear in Indiana's journal entry for March 7, 1959, along with a note that he began the work on the "too-dry linen" that he got for free at an art store. Unable to afford canvas at the time, Indiana had largely been painting on Homasote and plywood, making this one of his earleist works on canvas.
Untitled continues his exploration of the avocado seed motif and references his mural Stavrosis (1958). The latter, a depcition of the Crucifixion, uses botanical shapes to portray Christ and the two thieves. The mirrored avocado seed shapes of Untitled are a horizontal orientation of the shapes used to depict the Good Thief in Stavrosis.