“There are several ways of constructing a work of art. One is by making decisions at each step, another by making a system to make decisions.”

—Sol LeWitt

Pioneer of minimal and conceptual art, Sol LeWitt’s abstract and architectural oeuvre is governed by the artist’s lifelong commitment to a fundamentally geometric vocabulary. Using formulas, patterns, ratios, geometric solids and lines to create his structures and wall drawings, the artist, inspired by his time working in an architect’s office, roots his works within their surroundings. Throughout his prolific career, LeWitt’s artistic output evolved through varied mediums, the cube however appears at every juncture, from sculpture to photography. Wall Piece (16 Modules High), composed of regulated cubic metal constructions, holds a discernable rhythmic quality; symmetry lies at the heart of the structure through the repetitive grid motif. 

Formulating the principles of the budding conceptual art movement in the 1960s, LeWitt asserted that the concepts and notions behind a work of art surpass its physical execution: “What the work of art looks like isn’t too important. It has to look like something if it has physical form. No matter what form it may finally have it must begin with an idea. It is the process of conception and realization with which the artist is concerned.” Likening his role as an artist to the systematic practice of that of an architect or composer, Wall Piece (16 Modules High) is a testament to the freedom that LeWitt found within self-imposed limitations of his practice.

Lots 23 and 353 in the present auction come from the collection of pioneering gallerist Brent Sikkema (1948-2024). Sikkema was renowned for championing the work of some of the principal artists of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries, including Kara Walker, Vik Muniz, Mark Bradford, Deana Lawson, and many others, and for broadening the market for Latin American art.    

Mr. Sikkema studied photography and filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute. After earning his BFA in 1970 he became director of traveling exhibitions, and later director of exhibitions, at the Visual Studies Workshop, the groundbreaking photographic collective in Rochester, New York. In 1976 he relocated to Boston where he worked for Vision Gallery, handling 19^th and 20^th century photography, later becoming its owner and maintaining an adventurous curatorial program. He made his first foray into the New York City gallery world in 1989, exhibiting in a temporary space. He opened a permanent gallery in 1991; called Wooster Gardens, it quickly became known as a premiere venue for contemporary art. In 1999, Sikkema moved the gallery to Chelsea, partnering with Michael Jenkins under the name Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Sikkema’s generous support inspired loyalty in the artists in his stable, many of whom chose to remain with the gallery even after receiving invitations from the larger mega-galleries.

Phillips is honored to be handling material from his estate. In addition to the editions offered here, work from his collection will be featured in the upcoming Design auction this December.