Sol LeWitt Quotes

Quotes about:

• Obviously a drawing of a person is not a real person, but a drawing of a line is a real line.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Real, Drawing

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  63 Copy quote

• 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.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Mean, Ideas

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  47 Copy quote

• Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple

  Sol LeWitt

  Successful, Simple, Ideas

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  30 Copy quote

• You belong in the most secret part of you. Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you—draw and paint your fear and anxiety.

  Sol LeWitt

  Worry, Anxiety, Secret

  50 Copy quote

• New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Ideas, Affliction

  Sol LeWitt (2006). “Sol LeWitt wall drawing 1176: seven basic colors and all their combinations in a square within a square : for Josef Albers”, Richter Verlag

  55 Copy quote

• Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool.

  Sol LeWitt

  Worry, Uncool

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  52 Copy quote

• Irrational judgements lead to new experience.

  Sol LeWitt

  New Experiences, Judgement, Irrational

  7 Copy quote

• All intervening steps, scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed work models, studies thoughts, conversations, are of interest. Those that show the thought process of the artist are sometimes more interesting than the final product

  Sol LeWitt

  Artist, Drawing, Interesting

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  31 Copy quote

• A blind man can make art if what is in his mind can be passed to another mind in some tangible form.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Men, Mind

  60 Copy quote

• Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free to even surprise himself. Ideas are discovered by intuition.

  Sol LeWitt

  Successful, Artist, Simple

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  33 Copy quote

• One should be intelligent enough to know when not to be too intellectual

  Sol LeWitt

  Intelligent, Intellectual, Enough

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  7 Copy quote

• You shouldn't be a prisoner of your own ideas.

  Sol LeWitt

  Ideas, Prisoner

  Interview with Saul Ostrow, bombmagazine.org. October 1, 2003.

  38 Copy quote

• Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.

  Sol LeWitt

  Artist, Logic, Leap

  Sol LeWitt (2006). “Sol LeWitt wall drawing 1176: seven basic colors and all their combinations in a square within a square : for Josef Albers”, Richter Verlag

  36 Copy quote

• The most interesting characteristic of the cube is that it is relatively uninteresting. Compared to any other three-dimensional form, the cube lacks any aggressive force, implies no motion, and is least emotive. Therefore, it is the best form to use as a basic unit for any more elaborate function, the grammatical device from which the work may proceed.

  Sol LeWitt

  Interesting, Three, Use

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  36 Copy quote

• Banal ideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution.

  Sol LeWitt

  Beautiful, Ideas, Execution

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  9 Copy quote

• I wasn't really that interested in objects. I was interested in ideas.

  Sol LeWitt

  Ideas, Objects

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  22 Copy quote

• Your work isn't a high stakes, nail-biting professional challenge. It's a form of play. Lighten up and have fun with it.

  Sol LeWitt

  Fun, Play, Challenges

  28 Copy quote

• When artists make art, they shouldn't question whether it is permissible to do one thing or another.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Artist, One Thing

  43 Copy quote

• The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Ideas, Machines

  Sol LeWitt, Andrea Miller-Keller, John B. Ravenal (1984). “From the Collection of Sol LeWitt: A Traveling Exhibition Organized and Circulated by Independent Curators Incorporated, New York”, Independent Curators

  24 Copy quote

• The idea part is simple but the visual perception is complex.

  Sol LeWitt

  Simple, Ideas, Perception

  20 Copy quote

• The system is the work of art; the visual work of art is the proof of the System. The visual aspect can't be understood without understanding the system. It isn't what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Understanding, Looks

  35 Copy quote

• Once it is out of his hand the artist has no control over the way a viewer will perceive the work. Different people will understand the same thing in a different way.

  Sol LeWitt

  Artist, Hands, People

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  26 Copy quote

• What the work of art looks like isn't too important. It has to look like something if it has a physical form. No matter what form it may finally have it must begin with an idea. It is the process of conception and realization with which the artist is concerned.

  Sol LeWitt

  Art, Ideas, Important

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  11 Copy quote

• Artists teach critics what to think. Critics repeat what the artists teach them.

  Sol LeWitt

  Artist, Thinking, Teach

  32 Copy quote

• An architect doesn't go off with a shovel and dig his foundation and lay every brick. He's still an artist.

  Sol LeWitt

  Artist, Foundation, Bricks

  Sol LeWitt (1995). “Sol Lewitt: critical texts”, Power House Books

  4 Copy quote

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