Sol LeWitt
American, 1928-2007

The Museum commissioned Sol LeWitt to create a “wall drawing” specifically for the curving corridor that connects the TMA with the Peristyle (the Museum’s concert hall) and with the University of Toledo’s Center for the Visual Arts (CVA). LeWitt visited the Museum and studied the space, taking into account the unique conditions of its curve, length, width, and uses. Following LeWitt’s diagram and specific color instructions, his assistants drew the composition in pencil directly onto the primed white walls and then rendered it in color using translucent red, yellow, blue, and black artist’s inks. All color variations were achieved by applying layers of these colors rather than by mixing them beforehand.

The lively geometry echoes that of the adjoining CVA designed by Frank Gehry, while also evoking the harmonious proportions of the Museum’s neoclassical architecture (LeWitt left untouched the painted classical elements of the crown molding, which echo features of the Peristyle).

The wall is bordered and divided vertically by 9 inch (23 cm) black bands. Between each band, an irregular figure with color ink washes superimposed. Color ink wash drawn by Sachiko Cho, James Easter, Edward Hill, John Hosford, V. Lynn Liming, Matthew Martin, Erin Palmer and Rebecca Weger, July 1994.
Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott, 1994.91
©1994 Sol LeWitt