The Herakleidon Museum presented an exhibition of works by the American artist Sol LeWitt. All the works, which were donated by the artist himself, are on loan from the New Britain Museum of American Art (Connecticut, USA).
The exhibition had the support of the U.S. Embassy in Athens and comprises 115 works by Sol LeWitt, mainly prints (such as lithographs, etchings, and woodcuts), but his first oil painting as well as gouache, monotypes, and photographs were also included. The artist’s works are known for their geometric shapes and rich colors.
As a result of the high attendance from school groups the Herakleidon Museum decided to proceed with the extension of the exhibition “Sol LeWitt, LINE AND COLOR” until March 18th 2012. The uniqueness and originality of the educational program “ART AND MATHEMATICS” which has been in place since 2005, used the works of Sol LeWitt as an educational tool to inspire young minds and assist in the comprehension of mathematics.
Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) was born in Connecticut, USA and majored in art at Syracuse University (New York, USA). After serving in the US army during the Korean War, he moved to New York where he studied at the School of Visual Arts and worked at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), both in the bookshop and as a night receptionist. He became known in the late 1960s for his wall drawings and his sculptures or “structures” as he called them, but he also created a large number of works in other media, such as drawing, painting, printing, and photography. At first his work was associated with Minimalism, but was later related so closely to Conceptual art that he is considered by many to be the father of this movement. In 1967, he wrote “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,” in which he states that the idea, or concept, of a work is of greater importance that the physical form through which the artist conveys his idea. It is also believed that Sol LeWitt was the first to mention the term Conceptual art when he wrote: “I will refer to the kind of art I create as conceptual art.”
