
© Estate of Sol LeWitt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of Sol LeWitt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of Sol LeWitt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of Sol LeWitt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of Sol LeWitt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.
Sol LeWitt
American, 1928-2007
Wall Drawing # 53, 1970
red, yellow, blue, and black pencil on wall
dimensions variable
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
The Panza Collection and by exchange: George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, Bequest of Arthur B. Michael, Albert H. Tracy Fund and Bequest of John Mortimer Schiff, 2015
2015:14.20
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Work Type
This information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms
Sol LeWitt was primarily known as a sculptor when, in 1968, he installed his first wall drawing—which featured permutations of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines set within squares—at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York. While the work was designed to be painted over at the end of the exhibition, its simple lines could be easily recreated, either by the artist or someone in possession of the artist’s instructions. Soon, LeWitt developed the system that came to characterize his new wall drawing practice: the artist would communicate such works through language and diagrams, and would employ others—often art and engineering students and eventually a dedicated team of installers—to execute them.
Wall Drawing # 53 was conceived for the artist’s first solo museum exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. It consists of a wall divided into four equal sections (either vertically or in a grid), each of which features three types of lines, drawn in color and graphite pencil, and superimposed on one another. Because the individual lines are only a pencil-point wide, the differences between each section are barely perceptible from a distance. However, when looking closely at the surface of the wall, the line types and colors become legible. Much like LeWitt’s sculptural practice, which investigated how modular cubic structures appeared to be either simple or complex depending on the angle from which they are viewed, the artist’s wall drawings challenge human perception.
Label from Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from The Panza Collection, 1967–1990, October 24, 2015–February 7, 2016
Related Content
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exhibition
Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from The Panza Collection, 1967–1990
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Other Works by This Artist
- Schematic Drawings for Muybridge II, 1964 ,
- Wall Structure: Five Modules with One Cube, Black ,
Lines in Color on Color From Corners Sides and Centers to Specific Points on a Grid
,- Wall Drawing # 17 ,
- Wall Drawing # 24 ,
- 3-B Half-Off Piece ,
- Maquette ,
Horizontal Color Bands and Vertical Color Bands
,Straight Red, Straight Yellow
,- A sphere lit from the top, four sides, and all their combinations ,
- Wall Drawing # 1268: Scribbles: Staircase (AKAG) ,
Untitled from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid
,- Untitled from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid ,
- Untitled from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid ,
Untitled from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid
,- Untitled from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid ,
- Untitled from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid ,
Complex Forms: A Set of Three Prints-A
,- 2 Part Composite ,
No image available,
but we're working on itUntitled (cover print) from the portfolio Lines in Color on Color from Corners, Sides and Center to Specific Points on a Grid
,No image available,
but we're working on itArtifacts at the End of a Decade ,No image available,
but we're working on itA Square for Each Day of the Seventies from the portfolio Artifacts at the End of a Decade
,
The Panza Collection

