(Hartford Conecticut 1928–2007 New York)
Cube (B), 1994, gouache, pencil on strong paper, 155 x 154 cm, framed

Provenance:
Lisson Gallery, London (gallery label)
Collection Bankhaus Sal. Oppenheim, Cologne
Private Collection, Germany

Exhibited:
Lisson Gallery, London, Sol Lewitt and Robert Mangold, 3.2.-16.3.1995

Sol LeWitt used a variety of media - works on paper, wall paintings, photography and prints - to explore geometric forms and colour patterns and to translate structures into images. His works on paper are an important and decisive part of his method. Different “tools” are used to explore and decipher his thought processes.

Sol LeWitt is thought of as one of the co-founders of Conceptual Art and said the following about its development in the 1960s: “In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.”

LeWitt’s works on paper capture his approach to conceptual art, they can be seen as a sketch for a sculpture or his well-known “Wall Drawings”. The works first capture the idea and how it will be executed. They are a means of recording the initial ideas and then preparing concrete plans. They are also independent, self-contained works that illustrate the translation of structures and do not necessarily need to be developed further.

The work “Cube (B)” is a gouache that LeWitt began producing in the 1990s. These works show a symbiosis of techniques LeWitt had developed so far. He then added multifaceted, complex colour to his “Structures” from the 1960s and 1970s. The once dominant monochromy of his works takes a back seat and a new form of spatial depth and isometric projections begins to emerge. The choice of structure and brushstrokes generates energy that completely covers the pictorial support, creating balance between containment and limitless dynamism.
LeWitt, ‘Paragraphs on Conceptual Art’, Artforum vol. 5, no. 10, Summer 1967, pp. 79-83

The idea becomes a machine that makes the art
Sol LeWitt (1965)