Description
Early in his career, Sol LeWitt began to have others help execute his wall drawings. Wall Drawing 16, for example, was first drawn by James Walker. By allowing other draftsmen to realize his work according to his instructions and diagrams, LeWitt addressed practical concerns such as the time-consuming nature of the drawings. More significantly, however, this choice articulated LeWitt’s belief that the conception of the idea, rather than its execution, constitutes the art work. He was also rejecting the traditional importance assigned to the artist’s own “hand.”
LeWitt executed the earliest wall drawings within a square, usually four by four feet wide, but by 1969 he was using the entire wall, as evident in Wall Drawing 16.
Details
- Work Date:
- September 1969
- Dimensions:
- Bands of lines 12 inches (30 cm) wide, in three directions (vertical, horizontal, diagonal right) intersecting
- Medium:
- Black pencil
- Credit Line:
- Collection Michalke