Student Activity:Sol LeWitt's Concepts and Structures
Other Available Activities:
Sol LeWitt used lines, geometric solids, ratio, patterns, formulas, and permutations
to create his modern structures and wall paintings.
Look at artist Sol LeWitt's Four-Sided Pyramid in
the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden:
Sol LeWitt,Wall Drawing No. 681 C, 1993
Sol LeWitt,Four-Sided Pyramid, first installation 1997, fabricated 1999
Click on the building styles that you think may have influenced LeWitt as he set out to make his Four-Sided Pyramid.
Egyptian pyramid
Set-back skyscraper
Ziggurat
Slab skyscraper
Whitney Museum
Geodesic dome
Which of these buildings had the biggest impact on the artist?
The ziggurat and set-back skyscraper had the greatest influence on LeWitt's Four-Sided
Pyramid. This structure (LeWitt did not use the term "sculpture" for
his three-dimensional art) is made of blocks stacked and stepped back in
an orderly pattern and is based on the geometry of the pyramid.
