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Lot Essay
'Because of the possibilities for multiplication inherent in the grid form, a basic and seemingly unlimited vocabulary was at LeWitt's disposal... [the] serial form produced multipart pieces of finite order but infinite complexity'
(A. Legg, Sol LeWitt, Museum of Modern Art, New York, exh. cat., 1984, p. 9).
'When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art... Conceptual art is not necessarily logical. The logic of a piece or series of pieces is a device that is used at times only to be ruined. Logic may be used to camouflage the real intent of the artist, to lull the viewer into the belief that he understands the work, or to infer a paradoxical situation (such as logic vs. illogic)... Ideas are discovered by intuition'
(S. LeWitt, quoted in Sol LeWitt: a Retrospective, exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 2000, p. 369).
Five Open Geometric Sculptures is a sleek and refined rendition of one of Sol LeWitt's most enduring themes that explores the artist's fascination with measurements and mathematics. The definitive, open structures of Five Open Geometric Structures address the elemental construction of form. In streamlining sculptural form to its basic component parts of line and space, these forms represent the most essential means of artistic inquiry. Numbered one to five, LeWitt created twenty-five possible combinations of the structures, deconstructing a cube, pyramid, rectangle, rhomboid, and parallelogram through their mathematical axes. Crafted from wooden beams and exposed space, Five Open Geometric Sculptures reinvents geometry, constructing volume in seemingly open structures. One of the artist's most iconic motifs, an early version of Five Open Geometric Structures dating from 1979 is currently housed in Tate's collection. A forerunner of both the Minimalist and Conceptual Art movements in the 1960s, LeWitt transformed the relationship between the idea and practice of sculpture, inspiring a generation of artists. Relating to Chillida's interest in the relationship between material and space in sculpture, Five Open Geometric Sculptures articulates shape by exposing the internal spaces of the structures.
In the 1960s LeWitt began formulating freestanding modular units, developing his spatial theories first laid out in his breakthrough wall drawings. LeWitt transferred the precise spatial play of his blueprints into three dimensional forms, defining his open sculptures through a series of gridded lines. In Five Open Geometric Structures, the decisive, predetermined line-making of his wall drawings are transformed here into floor based modular progressions. Within the strict framework of Minimalism, LeWitt articulated his reductionist aesthetic through a meticulous praxis: formulating object-based parameters based on predetermined mathematical principles of geometry. Evolving from LeWitt's early ambition to create non-referential, non-illusionistic artworks that were self-evident in form, the free standing sculptures perform as three-dimensional extrapolations of the mathematical principles laid out in his two-dimensional wall drawings, fully realizing his ambition of precise geometric forms. First experimenting with the primary structure of the cube, LeWitt investigated the possibilities of forms rendered through the elementary addition or subtraction, opening the possibility for an infinite number of unique sculptural forms. 'Because of the possibilities for multiplication inherent in the grid form a basic and seemingly unlimited vocabulary was at LeWitt's disposal... [the] serial form and produced multipart pieces of finite order but infinite complexity' (A. Legg, Sol LeWitt, Museum of Modern Art, New York, exh. cat., 1984, p. 9).
While the component parts appear arranged in a seemingly pre-determined mathematical sequence, the progression through the shapes does not abide by a systematic geometric system. This rhythmic progression through the forms reveals an intuitive, artistic gesture in this otherwise rigidly academic process. Speaking of this practice, LeWitt presented 'when an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. This kind of art is not theoretical or illustrative of theories; it is intuitive, it is involved with all types of mental processes and it is purposeless... Conceptual art is not necessarily logical. The logic of a piece or series of pieces is a device that is used at times only to be ruined. Logic may be used to camouflage the real intent of the artist, to lull the viewer into the belief that he understands the work, or to infer a paradoxical situation (such as logic vs. illogic)... Ideas are discovered by intuition' (S. LeWitt, quoted in Sol LeWitt: a Retrospective, exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 2000, p. 369). This serial and elemental approach offers a restrained but elegant mathematical language; one that would characterise and define all of LeWitt's subsequent work, and inspired a legacy of Minimalism for a generation of Contemporary artists to follow.
(A. Legg, Sol LeWitt, Museum of Modern Art, New York, exh. cat., 1984, p. 9).
'When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art... Conceptual art is not necessarily logical. The logic of a piece or series of pieces is a device that is used at times only to be ruined. Logic may be used to camouflage the real intent of the artist, to lull the viewer into the belief that he understands the work, or to infer a paradoxical situation (such as logic vs. illogic)... Ideas are discovered by intuition'
(S. LeWitt, quoted in Sol LeWitt: a Retrospective, exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 2000, p. 369).
Five Open Geometric Sculptures is a sleek and refined rendition of one of Sol LeWitt's most enduring themes that explores the artist's fascination with measurements and mathematics. The definitive, open structures of Five Open Geometric Structures address the elemental construction of form. In streamlining sculptural form to its basic component parts of line and space, these forms represent the most essential means of artistic inquiry. Numbered one to five, LeWitt created twenty-five possible combinations of the structures, deconstructing a cube, pyramid, rectangle, rhomboid, and parallelogram through their mathematical axes. Crafted from wooden beams and exposed space, Five Open Geometric Sculptures reinvents geometry, constructing volume in seemingly open structures. One of the artist's most iconic motifs, an early version of Five Open Geometric Structures dating from 1979 is currently housed in Tate's collection. A forerunner of both the Minimalist and Conceptual Art movements in the 1960s, LeWitt transformed the relationship between the idea and practice of sculpture, inspiring a generation of artists. Relating to Chillida's interest in the relationship between material and space in sculpture, Five Open Geometric Sculptures articulates shape by exposing the internal spaces of the structures.
In the 1960s LeWitt began formulating freestanding modular units, developing his spatial theories first laid out in his breakthrough wall drawings. LeWitt transferred the precise spatial play of his blueprints into three dimensional forms, defining his open sculptures through a series of gridded lines. In Five Open Geometric Structures, the decisive, predetermined line-making of his wall drawings are transformed here into floor based modular progressions. Within the strict framework of Minimalism, LeWitt articulated his reductionist aesthetic through a meticulous praxis: formulating object-based parameters based on predetermined mathematical principles of geometry. Evolving from LeWitt's early ambition to create non-referential, non-illusionistic artworks that were self-evident in form, the free standing sculptures perform as three-dimensional extrapolations of the mathematical principles laid out in his two-dimensional wall drawings, fully realizing his ambition of precise geometric forms. First experimenting with the primary structure of the cube, LeWitt investigated the possibilities of forms rendered through the elementary addition or subtraction, opening the possibility for an infinite number of unique sculptural forms. 'Because of the possibilities for multiplication inherent in the grid form a basic and seemingly unlimited vocabulary was at LeWitt's disposal... [the] serial form and produced multipart pieces of finite order but infinite complexity' (A. Legg, Sol LeWitt, Museum of Modern Art, New York, exh. cat., 1984, p. 9).
While the component parts appear arranged in a seemingly pre-determined mathematical sequence, the progression through the shapes does not abide by a systematic geometric system. This rhythmic progression through the forms reveals an intuitive, artistic gesture in this otherwise rigidly academic process. Speaking of this practice, LeWitt presented 'when an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. This kind of art is not theoretical or illustrative of theories; it is intuitive, it is involved with all types of mental processes and it is purposeless... Conceptual art is not necessarily logical. The logic of a piece or series of pieces is a device that is used at times only to be ruined. Logic may be used to camouflage the real intent of the artist, to lull the viewer into the belief that he understands the work, or to infer a paradoxical situation (such as logic vs. illogic)... Ideas are discovered by intuition' (S. LeWitt, quoted in Sol LeWitt: a Retrospective, exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 2000, p. 369). This serial and elemental approach offers a restrained but elegant mathematical language; one that would characterise and define all of LeWitt's subsequent work, and inspired a legacy of Minimalism for a generation of Contemporary artists to follow.