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.
Find a collection of original Sol LeWitt art on 1stDibs.
A sphere lit from the top, four sides and all their combinations
By Sol LeWitt
Located in New York, NY
This artwork by Sol Lewitt is offered by CLAMP in New York City. A sphere lit from the top, four sides and all their combinations 2004 Signed and numbered in pencil, verso Archiva...
Archival Pigment
$1,800
H 40 in W 31 in
Persephone III - large format photograph of a timeless environmental still
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale original photograph from the body of works 'Persephone', a series of environmental still-life photographs of timeless palimpsest impressions Persephone III by Erik Pawassar 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) signed edition of 25 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) signed edition of 7 archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered by artist on label custom/larger sizes are available on request ____________________________ Erik Pawassar's work focuses on the beauty of the disregarded or mundane object. The subjects for his striking and captivating visuals are typically set in the most ordinary environments, drawing the viewer into a charged but serene experience based on composition, palette and formal lines. Saturated in color, the nominal subjects gather a haunting and mesmerizing quality, creating a poignant pretext for the making of a formal color photograph. Decisively capturing the traces left by humanity, Pawassar's images are filled with a sense of universal nostalgia and pay homage to the passage of time and the extinguished moment, referencing documentary and street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastian Salgado...
Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper
Persephone V ( 40 x 31" / 102 x 79cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone V by Erik Pawassar 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée, Archival Ink
Persephone V ( 62 x 48" / 157 x 122cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone V by Erik Pawassar 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
$7,634Sale Price|20% Off
H 39.38 in W 53.55 in D 0.08 in
Dragonfly- Signed limited edition nature print, Color photo, insect, Yellow
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Dragonfly - Signed limited edition archival pigment print - Edition of 8 Photography and Bichromate print : 2016 Pigment print : 2020 Several negatives was used to create a ...
Color, Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pig...
Persephone II ( 40 x 31" / 102 x 79cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone II by Erik Pawassar 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered...
Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée
Persephone IV ( 40 x 31" / 102 x 79cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone IV by Erik Pawassar 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & numbere...
Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée
Persephone VIII ( 40 x 31" / 102 x 79cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone VIII by Erik Pawassar 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & numbe...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée
$3,800
H 62 in W 48 in
Persephone IV - muted still life of a timeless environmental interior vignette
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone IV by Erik Pawassar 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) signed edition of 7 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) signed edition of 25 archival fine art pigment print signed & numbere...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
Persephone III ( 62 x 48" / 157 x 122cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone III by Erik Pawassar 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & number...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
Persephone VIII ( 62 x 48" / 157 x 122cm )
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone VIII by Erik Pawassar 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & numbe...
Archival Ink, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Paper, Giclée
$3,700
H 62 in W 48 in
Persephone VIII Signed Giclée Print, Color Photography, 62x48 inches
By Erik Pawassar
Located in San Francisco, CA
Persephone VIII by Erik Pawassar 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) edition of 7 signed 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) edition of 25 signed archival fine art pigment print signed & nu...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Giclée
$8,947
H 21.66 in W 29.53 in D 0.16 in
Dragonfly - Signed limited edition fine art, Design Contemporary, Collectable
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Dragonfly - Signed limited edition archival pigment print on an textured art paper - Edition of 8 Photography and Bichromate print : 2016 Pigment print : 2020 Several negative...
Archival Paper, Color, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment