Lot Essay
This work is accompanied by a photo certificate signed by the artist and dated December 7, 1973.
Whether working as a painter, a sculptor, or the originator of intricate wall-drawings, Sol LeWitt uses the grid as his fundamental structure, and the cube, whether as a solid form or a skeletal framework, as his primary modular unit. Because of the possibilities for multiplication inherent within the grid format, a seemingly unlimited vocabulary is at his disposal.
In the present sculpture, LeWitt uses this basic formal language to create something both complex in its arrangement of open and closed volumes and multi-dimensions, and yet solemnly monumental and timeless in its elemental composition and white purity.
"Clarity, beauty, playfulness. Simplicity, logic, openness. The words, which come to mind in beginning to describe the work of Sol LeWitt resonate with essential aesthetic and intellectual values. His works are straightforward and legible. Yet, upon closer observation and consideration, even those that initially appear direct and obvious reveal complex subtlety in decision making." (Gary Garrels, cited in exh. cat., Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, 2000-01, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, p.23)
Whether working as a painter, a sculptor, or the originator of intricate wall-drawings, Sol LeWitt uses the grid as his fundamental structure, and the cube, whether as a solid form or a skeletal framework, as his primary modular unit. Because of the possibilities for multiplication inherent within the grid format, a seemingly unlimited vocabulary is at his disposal.
In the present sculpture, LeWitt uses this basic formal language to create something both complex in its arrangement of open and closed volumes and multi-dimensions, and yet solemnly monumental and timeless in its elemental composition and white purity.
"Clarity, beauty, playfulness. Simplicity, logic, openness. The words, which come to mind in beginning to describe the work of Sol LeWitt resonate with essential aesthetic and intellectual values. His works are straightforward and legible. Yet, upon closer observation and consideration, even those that initially appear direct and obvious reveal complex subtlety in decision making." (Gary Garrels, cited in exh. cat., Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, 2000-01, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, p.23)