Artist

Sol LeWitt

born Hartford, CT 1928-died New York City 2007
Media - portrait_image_113298.jpg - 90214
Photograph by Jack Robinson. Courtesy Robinson Archive.
Also known as
  • Sol Le Witt
  • Solomon LeWitt
  • Sol Lewitt
Born
Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Died
New York, New York, United States
Active in
  • Chester, Connecticut, United States
Biography

Sol LeWitt was a leader in the growth of conceptual art during the 1960s and 1970s. This was a reaction to the emotional qualities of abstract expressionism, and focused on the ideas behind the art as opposed to the actual objects. LeWitt employs teams of trained assistants to construct, print, or paint his pieces, and his written instructions usually became part of the finished work. When one of his assistants was asked who the creator of a painting was, she replied, “Well, we all are, and yet none of us is.” LeWitt’s work derives from simple sequences of numbers, and his sculptures, wall paintings, and prints often display every possible combination of their basic components.

Exhibitions

Media - 2000.53 - SAAM-2000.53_1 - 13628
Multiplicity
November 11, 2011March 11, 2012
Multiplicity features 83 works from the museum’s permanent collection by such outstanding contemporary artists as John Baldessari, John Cage, Vija Celmins, Chuck Close, R.
Media - 1979.159.44 - SAAM-1979.159.44_1 - 56988
Sculpture Down to Scale: Models for Public Art at Federal Buildings, 1974 – 1985
May 31, 2019November 22, 2020
Artists used preliminary models—or maquettes—to communicate their ideas.