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Sol Lewitt

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Sol LeWitt working at Crown Point Press,
photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy
Crown Point Press

An artist’s idea, LeWitt noted in his landmark “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art” (1967), becomes “the machine that makes the art.” Once the idea is set in motion, “the fewer decisions made in the course of completing the work, the better.” The idea behind Curvy Brushstrokes I was to overlay curvy brushstrokes in blue, red, yellow, and gray. The first proofs were inked using black so that LeWitt could evaluate the quality of the curving strokes alone. In working proof 6 he introduced a gray background, but in the final print he opted for the brilliance of the white paper.

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Inked plates used to print LeWitt's Curvy Brushstrokes I, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

Banner image: Detail, Mamma Andersson, Room Under the Influence, 2008, color spitbite aquatint, sugarlift aquatint, aquatint, and softground etching,  Gift of Kathan Brown, Crown Point Press, © Mamma Andersson

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