The preeminent American artist Sol LeWitt (b. 1928, Hartford, CT, d. 2007, New York), whose pioneering style defies categorization, is well-known for his wall drawings as well as his many variations of open cube structures, complex forms, and works on paper. A critical departure from the tradition of object-based art, he believed in the primacy of the idea, famously stating: “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” LeWitt executed his first wall drawing for Paula Cooper Galleryʼs inaugural show in 1968. In November 2008, Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective opened at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, where it will remain on view for 35 years.
In December 2025, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) presented Sol LeWitt: Open Structure , and in fall 2026, an expanded version of the exhibition will open at the Amorepacific Museum of Art in Seoul. These mark the first significant presentation of the artist's work at a public museum in Japan and South Korea. Other recent one-person presentations include those at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (2021), and the Modern Institute, Glasgow (2018). LeWittʼs works are in numerous public collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Tate, UK; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
