Sol LeWitt Follow Wall Drawing #408 A-E Stars with four, five, six, seven, and eight points on black, blue, red, yellow, and gray walls, respectively. The stars are the white of the wall. A: Star with four points B: Star with five points C: Star with six points D: Star with seven points E: Star with eight points India ink and color ink wash, in 5 parts installation dimensions variable Conceived in 1983, this work is accompanied by a diagram and certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.
Condition Report Request Condition Report Thank you for your request. The Condition Report will be sent shortly. Contact Us * Required Send me the Report Via Email Fax Contact Specialist Cancel Provenance Paula Cooper Gallery, New York James Hedges, New York Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York and James Cohan, New York (acquired from the above in 1998) Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2004 Exhibited Genoa, Locus Solus, December 1983 New York, Gladstone Gallery, Boetti, Darboven, LeWitt , January 9 - Februrary 6, 1999 (parts B-D exhibited) Literature Adachiara Zevi, L'Italia nei wall drawings di Sol LeWitt , Milan, 2012, pp. 32, 85, 169, 201 (part E, Locus Solus, Genoa, 1983 installation illustrated) Sol LeWitt in Italia , exh. cat., Centro Espositivo della Rocca Paolina, Perugia, 1998, pp. 120-121 (parts B-E, Locus Solus, Genoa, 1983 installation illustrated) Susanna Singer, ed., Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings 1968-1984 , Amsterdam, 1984, pp. 158-159, 196, 201, 206 (parts B-E, Locus Solus, Genoa, 1983 installation illustrated, erroneously numbered, p. 159) Lindsay Aveilhé, ed., Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings Catalogue Raisonné , New York: Artifex Press, 2018, online (illustrated) Catalogue Essay “In many of the wall pieces there is very little latitude for the draftsman or draftswoman to make changes, but it is evident anyway, visually, that different people make different works…The visual aspect can’t be understood without understanding the system. It isn’t what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance.” – Sol LeWitt Sol LeWitt began his celebrated wall drawings in 1968, when he first drew directly on the walls of Paula Cooper Gallery’s exhibition space in New York City. Over the next forty years, LeWitt continued to work in this innovative sphere, conceiving of over 1,300 wall drawings in total, with 3,000 plus installations realized during his lifetime. Even after LeWitt’s passing in 2007, the wall drawings are continually brought to life with new installations, each one differing slightly from the last, as new draftsmen execute the artist’s plan. LeWitt was a pioneer among his contemporaries, challenging the notion of what it means to be an artist versus producer in the latter half of the 20th century. Like Donald Judd whose renowned wall-bound sculptures were conceived of in the artist’s studio and manufactured in a factory, LeWitt championed the belief that an idea is ultimately the most important aspect of an artwork. Yet unlike Judd, whose fabricated works are mechanically produced, LeWitt invites interpretation and diversity in his wall drawings, positioning himself as choreographer or composer, rather than dancer or instrumentalist, in his final compositions. The present two lots – Wall Drawing #408 A-E and Wall Drawing #1002 Splat – conceived of in 1983 and 2001, respectively, illustrate the evolution of this important part of LeWitt’s practice during these decades. Twelve years after first exhibiting his wall drawings, he moved from Manhattan to Spoleto, Italy in 1980, where the influence of Renaissance painting breathed new life into his artworks. As demonstrated in Wall Drawing #408 A-E , 1983, LeWitt began working in ink-wash, incorporating geometric forms, and favoring a refined color palette of primary colors and grey tones, all of which were directly inspired by frescoes that covered the walls of churches in Europe. LeWitt notes, “One lesson learnt from the fresco painters of the Quattrocento in Italy was that they had a sense of surface, of flatness where linear perspective was not used but a system of isometric perspective that flattened the forms… I have always tried to keep the depth as shallow as possible and the integrity of the wall.” (Sol LeWitt quoted in Andrew Wilson “Sol LeWitt Interviewed”, Art Monthly , no. 164, March 1993, pp. 3-9) In Wall Drawing #408 A-E , five stars, with four, five, six, seven, and eight points, are drawn directly on the wall. Per the artist’s specific
Sol LeWitt Follow Wall Drawing #408 A-E Stars with four, five, six, seven, and eight points on black, blue, red, yellow, and gray walls, respectively. The stars are the white of the wall. A: Star with four points B: Star with five points C: Star with six points D: Star with seven points E: Star with eight points India ink and color ink wash, in 5 parts installation dimensions variable Conceived in 1983, this work is accompanied by a diagram and certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.
Condition Report Request Condition Report Thank you for your request. The Condition Report will be sent shortly. Contact Us * Required Send me the Report Via Email Fax Contact Specialist Cancel Provenance Paula Cooper Gallery, New York James Hedges, New York Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York and James Cohan, New York (acquired from the above in 1998) Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2004 Exhibited Genoa, Locus Solus, December 1983 New York, Gladstone Gallery, Boetti, Darboven, LeWitt , January 9 - Februrary 6, 1999 (parts B-D exhibited) Literature Adachiara Zevi, L'Italia nei wall drawings di Sol LeWitt , Milan, 2012, pp. 32, 85, 169, 201 (part E, Locus Solus, Genoa, 1983 installation illustrated) Sol LeWitt in Italia , exh. cat., Centro Espositivo della Rocca Paolina, Perugia, 1998, pp. 120-121 (parts B-E, Locus Solus, Genoa, 1983 installation illustrated) Susanna Singer, ed., Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings 1968-1984 , Amsterdam, 1984, pp. 158-159, 196, 201, 206 (parts B-E, Locus Solus, Genoa, 1983 installation illustrated, erroneously numbered, p. 159) Lindsay Aveilhé, ed., Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings Catalogue Raisonné , New York: Artifex Press, 2018, online (illustrated) Catalogue Essay “In many of the wall pieces there is very little latitude for the draftsman or draftswoman to make changes, but it is evident anyway, visually, that different people make different works…The visual aspect can’t be understood without understanding the system. It isn’t what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance.” – Sol LeWitt Sol LeWitt began his celebrated wall drawings in 1968, when he first drew directly on the walls of Paula Cooper Gallery’s exhibition space in New York City. Over the next forty years, LeWitt continued to work in this innovative sphere, conceiving of over 1,300 wall drawings in total, with 3,000 plus installations realized during his lifetime. Even after LeWitt’s passing in 2007, the wall drawings are continually brought to life with new installations, each one differing slightly from the last, as new draftsmen execute the artist’s plan. LeWitt was a pioneer among his contemporaries, challenging the notion of what it means to be an artist versus producer in the latter half of the 20th century. Like Donald Judd whose renowned wall-bound sculptures were conceived of in the artist’s studio and manufactured in a factory, LeWitt championed the belief that an idea is ultimately the most important aspect of an artwork. Yet unlike Judd, whose fabricated works are mechanically produced, LeWitt invites interpretation and diversity in his wall drawings, positioning himself as choreographer or composer, rather than dancer or instrumentalist, in his final compositions. The present two lots – Wall Drawing #408 A-E and Wall Drawing #1002 Splat – conceived of in 1983 and 2001, respectively, illustrate the evolution of this important part of LeWitt’s practice during these decades. Twelve years after first exhibiting his wall drawings, he moved from Manhattan to Spoleto, Italy in 1980, where the influence of Renaissance painting breathed new life into his artworks. As demonstrated in Wall Drawing #408 A-E , 1983, LeWitt began working in ink-wash, incorporating geometric forms, and favoring a refined color palette of primary colors and grey tones, all of which were directly inspired by frescoes that covered the walls of churches in Europe. LeWitt notes, “One lesson learnt from the fresco painters of the Quattrocento in Italy was that they had a sense of surface, of flatness where linear perspective was not used but a system of isometric perspective that flattened the forms… I have always tried to keep the depth as shallow as possible and the integrity of the wall.” (Sol LeWitt quoted in Andrew Wilson “Sol LeWitt Interviewed”, Art Monthly , no. 164, March 1993, pp. 3-9) In Wall Drawing #408 A-E , five stars, with four, five, six, seven, and eight points, are drawn directly on the wall. Per the artist’s specific
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