In his monotypes, Stanley Whitney organizes the plate by means of horizontal and vertical lines, using the colour fields in between to reflect on the qualities of the single colours as well as their relation to each other. Monotypes are unique works, created on a featureless plate. In contrast to other printing techniques, the artist does not leave permanent marks on the plate but simply paints on its surface. The plate thus serves as a mere vehicle to transfer the artist’s painting onto paper. The resulting image cannot be repeated exactly, but the residue left on the plate may be used to create so-called ‘ghosts’, which give the artist the possibility of testing many variations of an image.