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Artist or Maker: Sol LeWitt (1928-2007)

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Provenance: John Weber Gallery, New York.
Anon. sale, Sotheby's New York, 18 November 1992, lot 232.

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Notes: The supremely elegant and serene Untitled, executed in 1971-74, embodies the pure ethos of one of the foremost pioneers of minimal and conceptual art. Sol LeWitt, who sadly died earlier this year, along with Donald Judd and Dan Flavin captured the imagination of millions with their purist theories and practices. LeWitt himself embodied a "Clarity, beauty, [and] playfulness. Simplicity, logic, [and] openness. The words, which come to mind in beginning to describe the work of Sol LeWitt resonate with essential aesthetic and intellectual values. His works are straightforward and legible. Yet, upon closer observation and consideration, even those that initially appear direct and obvious reveal complex subtlety in decision making" (G. Garrels quoted in Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, 2000-01, exh. cat., San Francisco, The Museum of Modern Art, p.23).

Whether working as a painter, a sculptor, or the originator of intricate wall-drawings, Sol LeWitt uses the grid as his fundamental structure, and the cube, whether as a solid form or a skeletal framework, as his primary modular unit. Because of the possibilities for multiplication inherent within the grid format, a seemingly unlimited vocabulary is at his disposal.

"The most interesting characteristic of the cube is that it is relatively uninteresting. Compared to any other three-dimensional form, the cube lacks any aggressive force, implies no motion, and is least emotive. Therefore it is the best form to use as a basic unit for any more elaborate function, the grammatical device from which the work may proceed. Because it is standard and universally recognized, no intention is required of the viewer. It is immediately understood that the cube represents the cube, a geometric figure that is uncontestably itself. The use of the cube obviates the necessity of inventing another form and reserves its use for invention" (LeWitt quoted in "The Cube", reprinted from Art in America, New York, Summer 1966, reproduced in Sol LeWitt, The Museum of Modern Art, New York 1978, p. 172).

Untitled, from whichever side the viewer wishes to take, is the essence of the simplest and most complete form extrapolated into one of the most complicated. From one angle the cubed, grid like box is complete, from others it is fragmented with gaps, reminiscent of architectural models and building blocks. It leaves the viewer wanting more and viewing more. The purity of the white painted wood also leaves one contemplating the most fundamental issues of human existence.