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| Sol LeWitt’s Isometric
Pyramid is painted directly onto the wall, not unlike the
traditional
frescoes
of the Renaissance. Although it uses a technique common in the Renaissance,
the content of this painting, a simple red and yellow pyramid shape
on a blue backdrop, is characteristic of an art movement called
Minimalism.
Minimalism was a movement that began in the 1960s and often made
use of industrial materials and basic geometric shapes, like the
triangular shape you see here. When LeWitt developed this artwork,
he was interested in the idea of “removing the artist’s
hand,” or
showing no evidence of an artist having created the piece. This notion
is also common among Minimalist artists. He created the concept
for this artwork and wrote very specific directions for how to create
it, then sold those directions so that it could be reproduced by
others. Therefore, the painting you see here was not actually painted
by the artist, but by the art handlers that work at the Museum. Sol LeWitt was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1928. He studied at Syracuse University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1949. He now lives and works in New York, teaching at various art schools. Part of the Minimal and Conceptual movements that emerged in the mid-60s, LeWitt has focused his interests on the many visual arrangements of simple geometric forms. His sculpture and wall drawings are representative of LeWitt’s notion that the idea is central to art, and that ideas, although irrational, should be carried out logically.  (For Grades K-2) What shapes do you see in this artwork? What types of lines do you see in this artwork? Do you like this artwork? Why or why not? Do you think this artwork belongs in a museum? Why or why not? (For Grades 3-5) Why are the three colors used by the artist important? What does Minimal mean? Do you think this artwork is “minimal”? Why? How is this painting different than one that hangs in a frame? Do you think if you wrote directions for creating an artwork, that someone else could recreate your artwork exactly? Why or why not? |
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Sol LeWitt United States, born 1928 Isometric Pyramid Color ink washes, 1983 Museum purchase, Contemporary Collectors Fund 1986.32 |
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