Wall Drawing #821: A black square divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts, each with a different direction of alternating flat and glossy bands

Courtesy of Lisson Gallery, photo by Stephen White.

1997

Sol LeWitt
American, 1928-2007

Over nearly four decades, Sol LeWitt’s work—equal parts conceptual and visual—introduced new ways of making and thinking about art. The artist posited his influential ideas most clearly in over 1,200 wall drawings, which he conceived between 1968 and his death in 2007. LeWitt shared the creation of his work with other makers—trained draftsman and, in most cases, assistants hired from local art schools or institutions—extending the collaborative possibilities of his artwork indefinitely. Through the 1980s, the artist used only traditional drawing media such as crayon, ink, and pencil. In the following decade, however, acrylic paint became his dominant medium. Wall Drawing #821 depicts a signature motif with monumental solemnity. The work comprises a grid of horizontal, vertical, and opposing diagonal lines, which were LeWitt’s most fundamental geometric and linear building blocks. The artist usually rendered this motif graphically; in this work, however, the figure-ground relationship is articulated solely through the juxtaposition of subtly differentiated matte and gloss paints.

Status: Currently Off View

Artist: Sol LeWitt
Title: Wall Drawing #821: A black square divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts, each with a different direction of alternating flat and glossy bands
Place: United States (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1997
Medium: Acrylic paint
Dimensions: Variable: 365.8 × 365.8 cm (144 × 144 in.)
Credit Line: Through prior gifts of Judith Neisser and Mary and Leigh Block; Norman Waite Harris Purchase Fund
Reference Number: 2006.168
Copyright: © 2008 The Estate of Sol LeWitt

James Rondeau, “Sol LeWitt,” in Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1997), 151 (color ill.).
Nicholas Baume, Sol LeWitt: Wall Pieces [John Kaldor Art Project 11], exh. cat. (Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1998), 4, no cat. no. (ill.); 15.
Gary Garrels, ed., Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, with essays by Martin Friedman, Andrea Miller-Keller, Brenda Richardson, Anne Rorimer, John S. Weber, and Adam D. Weinberg, exh. cat. (San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 249, cat. 229 (color ill.); 410.
Béatrice Gross, ed., Sol LeWitt, trans. Natasha Edwards and Miriam Rosen, exh. cat. (Metz: Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2012), 84; 190, cat. 107 (color ill.).

New York, Ace Gallery, Sol LeWitt: Wall Paintings, 1997, Apr. 19–Aug. 30, 1997, drawn by Artistiedes Dé Leon, Sachiko Cho, Derek Edwards, Naomi Fox, Henry Levine, Sunhee Lim, Jason Livingston Emil Memon, Travis Molkenbur, and Carolline Rothwell, no cat.
Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sol LeWitt: Wall Pieces [John Kaldor Art Project 11], July 30–Nov. 29, 1998, no cat. no.
London, Lisson Gallery, Sol LeWitt, May 21–July 4, 1998, no cat.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, Feb. 19–May 30, 2000, cat. 229 (color ill.); Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, July 22–Oct. 22, 2000; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Dec. 7, 2000–Feb. 25, 2001.
North Adams, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective, Nov. 16, 2008–2033, no cat.
Centre Pompidou-Metz, Sol LeWitt: Dessons muraux de 1968 à 2007, Mar. 7–July 29, 2013 (extended to Aug. 12, 2013), cat. 107 (color ill.).

The artist; sold through Donald Young Gallery, Chicago, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 9, 2006.

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