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POMERANZ COLLECTION

SOL LEWITT

Wall Drawing #41
1970
Wall drawing
Dimensions variable
Inv. Nr. 49
Photo: © VBK, Wien, 2011

Born in 1928 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Died in 2007 in New York City, New York, USA

Sol LeWitt was one of the first artists in the late sixties to use the Conceptual label to produce wall drawings and “structures” (a term he preferred to “sculptures”) and to state that it is the idea that is the heart of his work while the visual manifestation is incidental. His series of Wall Drawings consists in plans to be carried out, which were often finalized by groups of art students that he supervised in a manner reminiscent of Renaissance apprenticeships: the master artist provided the concept and apprentices gave it visual form. The transitory nature of his wall drawings plays down notions of permanence and personal genius – historically important values in Western art – in favour of cooperative ventures and works that exist first and last as ideas.

 The Wall Drawing #41 consists of a wall divided into four parts based on architectural points, each part with lines in three directions and three colours. Each drawing, independent from any location, is accompanied with instructions for its re-creation, with variations made for potential different prospective settings. Wall drawings provoke associations between mankind’s ancient tradition of drawing or painting on walls – from cave paintings to Roman and Renaissance frescoes – and relate it to a post-modern ethos.