A Line Made by Walking
- Artist: Richard Long CBE
- Date: 1967
- Medium: Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper with graphite on board
- Dimensions: image: 825 x 1125 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "A Line Made by Walking" by Richard Long. In 1967, the artist stepped into a flat field, walked back and forth, and left a crisp, straight line of trampled grass. He photographed the result from a low angle where the sun highlighted the dark strip against the green. The print is a gelatin silver photograph, and on the paper below, Long himself wrote the title in red pencil and the date, "England 1967", in graphite. The piece captures a moment of bodily action that disappears as the grass regrows—a reminder that the artwork was never meant to be permanent. It became a landmark for Long’s practice of making art in the landscape, linking minimalism and conceptualism. The simple line invites viewers to imagine the walk that created it, turning a fleeting gesture into a lasting image.
See it in person
A Line Made by Walking is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
