Sol Lewitt

SOL LEWITT (Hartford, USA, 1928 - New York, 2007)
"From a cube", January 24, 1971.
Ink on canvas paper.
Provenance: -Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris. -Private collection, Pierre Berger A., Paris.
Measurements: 60 x 65 cm, 80 x 85 cm (frame).

Realized in 1971, this work on paper by Sol LeWitt is inscribed in a fully consolidated moment of his conceptual research on geometry, seriality and representation systems. Under the title "From a cube", the artist starts from a primary form -the cube- to unfold a visual structure based on repetition, variation and spatial projection.

The composition presents two open cubes, intertwined and constructed by means of lines of great precision. LeWitt reduces the image to its essential elements: line, module, volume and space. The apparent simplicity of the drawing encloses a rigorous intellectual system, where the form is not understood as an expressive result, but as a consequence of a previously formulated idea.

The lower part includes small diagrams and technical annotations that reinforce the analytical character of the work. These elements function almost as visual instructions, linking the drawing with LeWitt's conceptual practice, for whom the idea and the procedure were of central importance in the artistic process.

The work stands out for its formal cleanliness, its compositional balance and its ability to turn an elementary geometric structure into a reflection on the perception and construction of space. Its provenance from the Galerie Yvon Lambert, one of the fundamental European galleries for the diffusion of conceptual art, and its belonging to the private collection of Pierre Berger A., Paris, reinforce the historical and documentary interest of the piece.

Sol LeWitt was a central figure of conceptual art and minimalism. After training at Syracuse University, he traveled around Europe and, once in New York, he worked as a graphic designer and later at MoMA, a decisive experience for the development of his artistic thinking. From the mid-sixties he established himself as one of the main theoreticians and representatives of conceptual art. In 1978 the MoMA in New York dedicated his first retrospective to him.

His work is represented in institutions such as MoMA, the Guggenheim in New York and Bilbao, the Tate Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Gallery of Washington, the Kunstmuseum Basel and the National Gallery of Australia, among many others.