Sol LeWitt
Nine Pointed Stars, Colors
1996

Name: Nine Pointed Stars, Colors
Brand: Sol LeWitt
Price: 32000 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

With Nine Pointed Stars, the most complex of the “Pointed Star” series executed in 1996, Lewitt employs his trademark systematic use of grids, geometric shapes, and precise mathematical formulas to establish a framework for his composition. Nine Pointed Stars is composed of 36 individually printed embossed panels in every possible two-part combination of white/gray/black/red/yellow/blue. The repeated patterns generate a mesmerizing visual rhythm that capture the viewer's attention and challenge perception of space and form. The repetition of patterns and colors played a central role in many of LeWitt's creations as did the use of restricted color palettes which add an additional layer of complexity. By using primary colors and grayscale tones, he further emphasized geometric shapes and patterns while reducing complex compositions to their most essential elements. This reductionist approach heightened the impact of the work, allowing viewers to focus on the relationships between color, shape, and space. This example is number 8 from an edition of 15 published by Two Palms Press, NY and Sol Lewitt and printed by Two Palms Press, NY. in 1996. Each individual embossment measures, approx. 81/2 x 8 1/2 inches. It is hand made paper and the dimensions are slightly irregular. It is signed: Witt and numbered 8/15 (on the verso of the 36th [lower right] panel). This object is listed on the Sol Lewitt online catalogue raisonne.

Creator:

Sol LeWitt (1928 - 2007, American)

Creation Year:

1996

Dimensions:

Height: 58.5 in (148.59 cm)Width: 58.5 in (148.59 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)

Medium:

Handmade Paper

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

1990-1999

Condition:

Lovely condition, very fresh and rich pigment and deep embossment. Nice frame and ready to hang. Anything of note to the frame is very minor.

Gallery Location:

Greenwich, CT

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU1413213084162

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Sol LeWitt

While New York City’s art scene in the 1950s and ’60s revolved around Abstract Expressionism, multidisciplinary artist Sol LeWitt paved an alternative path, creating a prolific output of work in the genres of minimalism and, later, Conceptual art.

While LeWitt is perhaps best known for his immense “wall drawings,” he created work in a wide range of media, including drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. (However, in a characteristic rebuttal of canonical art history, he referred to these pieces as “structures.”) He also produced several texts, including the seminal Sentences on Conceptual Art (1969).

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1928, LeWitt received a BFA from Syracuse University before going to work as a graphic designer for the renowned architect I.M. Pei. He would later work at the book counter at the Museum of Modern Art, where his colleagues included fellow artists. LeWitt’s early exposure to architecture may well have had outsize influence on his subsequent career: He was known for the geometric nature of his work, specifically his fastidious, near-obsessive treatment of the cube, which he rendered repeatedly in various ways throughout his paintings, structures and wall drawings.

In the 1960s, LeWitt showed in several group exhibitions throughout New York and also began to experiment with three-dimensional structures, most modular riffs on the cube shape. His work was included in “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,” curated by Mel Bochner, another leading exponent of Conceptualism.

Later, LeWitt debuted his now-iconic wall drawings, creating work directly on the walls of galleries and show spaces, beginning with pioneering gallerist Paula Cooper’s inaugural show in 1968. The wall drawings became a prime example of LeWitt’s philosophical approach to art, with their installation often carried out by museum staff or curators following precise instructions from the artist.

“The idea,” the artist once said, “becomes a machine that makes the art.” LeWitt continued to produce work until his death in 2007.

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