Sol LeWitt - Contemporary Art Day Sale New York Friday, May 17, 2013 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Saman Gallery, Genoa, Italy
    Private Collection, Genoa, Italy

  • Exhibited

    Düsseldorf, Konrad Fischer Gallery, Sol Lewitt, June, 1981

  • Literature

    S. LeWitt, B. Corà and M. Panzera, Sol LeWitt in Italia, Siena, 1998, p. 110 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    A pioneer of Conceptualism and Minimalism, Sol LeWitt is known for reducing art to its essentials. Unique from other minimalists, he was not interested as much in the use of industrial materials as he was in concepts and systems. For LeWitt, the cube became the basic modular unit for his artistic study. Le Witt’s visual exploration of space developed from this universally recognizable form. He divided the sides of the cube into halves, thirds, and quarters, breaking up the traditional representation of three dimensional space. The present lot is part of LeWitt’s study of forms derived from a cube, in which he transforms planar figures into a three-dimensional form.

    In the present lot, LeWitt blurs the line between artist and architect. He simplifies art to a few of the most basic shapes and colors, presenting an ordered, organized approach to the artistic process. His drawings sometimes resemble mathematical diagrams. LeWitt’s india ink washes create three distinct tones of color, creating literal and figurative “grey areas” of space. His drawings create an interesting juxtaposition to the tradition of the “white cube” viewing space and ignite the work in dialogue with the location where it is ultimately displayed. His brilliantly colored ink washes were diluted and layered to achieve varying shades of grey, creating multifaceted areas. His goal was “to recreate art, to start from square one,” – beginning literally with squares and cubes.

  • Artist Biography

    Sol LeWitt

    American • 1928 - 2007

    Connected to the Conceptual and Minimalist art movements of the 1960s and '70s, the artist and theorist Sol LeWitt was a pivotal figure in driving 'idea' art into the mainstream art discourse. Redefining what constituted a work of art and its genesis, LeWitt explored these ideas through wall drawings, paintings, sculptures, works on paper and prints.

    Using a prescription to direct the creation of a work, the artist's hand subordinated to the artist's thoughts, in direct contrast to the Abstract Expressionist movement earlier in the century. Actions, forms and adjectives were broken down into terms, serially repeated and reconfigured: grids, lines, shapes, color, directions and starting points are several examples. These directives and constructs fueled an influential career of vast variety, subtlety and progression.

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174

Wall Drawing #354F: Isometric figure drawn with India ink washes [Parallelogram]

1981
india ink wash
dimensions variable
First drawn by Sol LeWitt and Carol Androccio.
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a diagram issued by the artist's studio.

Estimate
$120,000 - 180,000 

Sold for $209,000

Contact Specialist
Amanda Stoffel
Head of Sale
astoffel@phillips.com
+1 212 940 1261

Contemporary Art Day Sale

New York 17 May 2013 10am