SOL LEWITT (Heartford 1928–2007 New York City) 9 Pyramids on a 9 Part Grid. 1991. Cast polyester resin on formica base. Signed and numbered on the underside: S. Lewitt 4/15. 34 × 73.7 × 73.7 cm. Provenance: - Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, publisher (on the underside with the label). - Glen Dranoff Fine Art, New York. - Purchased from the above by the present owner, since then private collectors Switzerland. Literature: Garrels, Gary (Ed.): Sol Lewitt. a retrospective, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2000, p. 273, no. 257 (with colour ill.). “Anyone who understands the work of art owns it.” – Sol LeWitt The American artist Sol LeWitt. born 1928 as the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants, was one of the leading figures of Minimalism and a pioneer of Conceptual Art. He gained notoriety in the late 1960s with his Wall Drawings however, he was active across a variety of media, as his extensive two- and three-dimensional oeuvre illustrates. LeWitts multi-faceted oeuvre of hundreds of works on paper, prints, photographs, installations, as well as structures in the form of towers, pyramids and other geometric processes is clearly reflected in the works presented here. LeWitts artistic practice was based on emphasising ideas over the material aspects of a work of art. In doing so, he used simple, basic geometric forms and their repetition to develop aesthetic systems that reflect a sophisticated engagement with a world beyond the perceptible. Initially known for his geometric sculptures that use open, modular structures and spring from the form of the cube, in 1968 LeWitt began developing his Wall Drawings, in which he explored countless variations on the way drawn lines are applied to walls. Of his Wall Drawings, more than 1200 works were created first with graphite, then with chalk and later with India ink (see also lots 3474 and 3475). The present sculpture from 1991 epitomises Lewitts preference for**geometric forms, as well as their serialisation, repetition, and progression. On a dark grey Formica plinth stand 9 irregular pyramids. The artist has arranged the forms, cast in polyester resin, with precision on the 3 x 3 grid: however, the shapes of the individual structures conflict with the order and continuity of the platform. Thus, along the outer fields, 6 sharply pointed pyramids, almost like icebergs, protrude partially at an angle from the black surface. The three remaining pyramids appear monumental and more stable. The structures convey to the viewer a simultaneous impression of strength and fragility. It is possible that LeWitt deliberately avoided using colours here, for the interplay of the opposites of black and white, as well as angular and pointed, conspicuously emphasises his principle of geometry and repetition. SOL LEWITT (Heartford 1928–2007 New York City) 9 Pyramids on a 9 Part Grid. 1991. Gegossenes Polyesterharz auf Formica-Sockel. Auf der Unterseite signiert und nummeriert: S. Lewitt 4/15. 34 × 73,7 × 73,7 cm. Provenienz: - Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, Herausgeber (auf der Unterseite mit dem Etikett). - Glen Dranoff Fine Art, New York. - Vom heutigen Besitzer bei obiger Galerie erworben, seitdem Privatsammlung Schweiz. Literatur: Garrels, Gary (Hrsg.): Sol Lewitt. a retrospective, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2000, S. 273, Nr. 257 (Farbabb.). “Anyone who understands the work of art owns it.” – Sol LeWitt Der US-Amerikaner Sol LeWitt, 1928 als Kind russisch-jüdischer Immigranten geboren, z?hlt zu den Leitfiguren des Minimalismus und Pionieren der Konzeptkunst. Er erlangt in den sp?ten 1960ern mit seinen Wand-Zeichnungen Bekanntheit ist jedoch medienübergreifend aktiv, wie sein umfangreiches zwei- und dreidimensionales Werk beweist. LeWitts facettenreiches Oeuvre von hunderten Papierarbeiten, Druckgrafiken, Fotografien, Installationen, sowie Strukturen in Form von Türmen, Pyramiden und anderen geometrischen Verl?ufen l?sst sich an den vorliegenden Arbeiten deutlich festmachen (siehe auch Lose 3474 und 3475). LeWitts Praxis basiert auf der Betonung von Ideen gegenüber den materiellen Aspekten eines Kunstwerkes. Hierbei bedient er sich einfacher, geometrischer Grundformen sowie deren Repetition, um ?sthetische Systeme zu entwickeln,**eine anspruchsvolle Auseinandersetzung mit einer Welt jenseits des Wahrnehmbaren widerspiegeln. Zun?chst bekannt für seine geometrischen Skulpturen,**offene, modulare Strukturen verwenden und der Form des Kubus entspringen, beginnt LeWitt 1968 mit der Entwicklung von Wandzeichnungen, in denen er unz?hlige Variationen der Anwendung gezeichneter Linien auf W?nden erforscht. Von seinen Wall Drawings entstehen mehr als 1200 Werke zun?chst mit Grafit, dann mit Kreide und sp?ter mit Tusche.**vorliegende Skulptur aus dem Jahr 1991 verk?rpert Lewitts Vorliebe für einfache geometrische Formen, sowie deren Serialisierung, Wiederholung und Progression. Auf einem dunkelgrauen Formica-Sockel erheben sich 9 ungleichm?ssige Pyramiden.**aus Polyesterharz gegossenen Formen ordnet der Künstler mit Pr?zision auf dem 3 x 3 Raster an**Formen der einzelnen Strukturen konfligieren allerdings mit der Ordnung und Kontinuit?t der Plattform. So ragen entlang der ?usseren Felder 6 spitzzackige Pyramiden, fast wie Eisberge, teilweise schr?g aus der schwarzen Oberfl?che.**restlichen drei stehen monumental und mit gr?sserer Stabilit?t auf dem Untergrund.**Strukturen vermitteln dem Betrachter koinzident den Eindruck von St?rke und Fragilit?t. LeWitt verzichtet hier wom?glich bewusst auf den Einsatz von Farben, denn das Zusammenspiel von den Gegens?tzen Schwarz und Weiss sowie Eckig und Spitz pointiert sein Prinzip von Geometrie und Repetition augenf?llig.
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