LeWitt, Sol

Sol LeWitt was considered one of the great advocates of conceptual art, in which the focus of the artistic work is on conception and idea, while the realization of the artwork does not necessarily have to be carried out by the artist himself.

The skeletal form of the open cube – usually painted in white – became the basic element of the artist’s three-dimensional work, whereby he always took care to adhere to the strict rules of geometry. In later years, he worked with concrete blocks, again seeing the cube as the predominant element. However, his work is also characterized by walls, stairs and pyramids.

In addition to his sculptures, LeWitt was best known for his colorful acrylic wall drawings, which he also drew according to strict guidelines. So, the curved bands usually have a standard width, and no colored section may touch another section of the same color.

Following the idea of conceptual art, LeWitt’s murals were mostly realized by other people; even after his death, people continued to make these drawings. Of the approximately 1,270 murals that LeWitt designed during his long artistic life, many can now be found permanently in the USA, but also in the United States Embassy in Berlin or at Toronto International Airport.