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© 2016 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Sol LeWitt (American 1928 – 2007)
Open Cube in Color on Color, 2004
Set of thirty linoleum cut prints
14 x 14 inches each
Gift of Marvin Goldenberg, Heidi & Jill Pearlman
In honor of Doris Pearlman Goldenberg
Sol LeWitt is considered one of the most important artists to have emerged from the Minimal and Conceptual art movements. After earning a BFA from Syracuse University in 1949, he worked for I. M. Pei as an architectural draftsman. Working with
architects not only influenced LeWitt’s ideas concerning geometric precision and the viewer’s relationship to art, but also taught him that as an artist he could collaborate with others to realize his vision.
LeWitt was originally associated with the Minimalist art movement due to his extensive use of geometric forms, namely the identical cubes in serial configurations that would become a signature form. He later became so closely associated with the Conceptual
art movement that he is often called “the father of Conceptual Art.” As LeWitt stated in 1967, “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.” Similar to the relationship between an architect and a construction crew, LeWitt espoused that an artist should be able to conceive a work and then delegate its
actual production to others.
Known for his sculpture, wall drawings, and works on paper, LeWitt’s work is included in the collections of many major museums including Tate Modern, London; Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C.
In Open Cube in Color on Color, each of the cubes is outlined in rich primary colors, which switch back and forth from foreground to background. The dynamic whole is held together by the basic outline of the thirty cubes. This beautiful
series is located in the Charles A. Dana Building at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.