Sol LeWitt at the Delamar West Hartford

A Solo Exhibition

Presented by the New Britain Museum of American Art

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, and raised in New Britain, Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) was a pioneer of conceptual art and one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Best known for his wall drawings and modular structures, LeWitt also generated more than 350 print projects, comprising thousands of lithographs, silkscreens, etchings, aquatints, woodcuts, and linocuts. Presented by the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA), Sol LeWitt Prints features a selection of iconic prints by the artist, spanning the first and second floors of the Delamar West Hartford. The installation highlights the essential role of prints in LeWitt’s oeuvre and the variety of his output.

Printmaking proved to be the perfect medium for LeWitt’s brand of conceptual art, in which the “idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” Relying on predetermined plans and systems, LeWitt’s goal was to present a “thought process” in his work. Prints were ideal for realizing this rule-based art, ensuring an almost mechanical level of uniformity, multiplication, and variation. As LeWitt’s prints demonstrate, however, ordered and logical ideas often result in contradiction and irrationality, especially in terms of the viewer’s perceptual experience and the captivating beauty of the artist’s colors, geometric forms, and diverse lines, bands, and brushstrokes.

Sol LeWitt Prints takes place concurrent to Strict Beauty: Sol LeWitt Prints at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Curated by David S. Areford, Professor of Art History at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Strict Beauty is the most comprehensive presentation of the artist’s printmaking to date and is on view at the NBMAA through January 9, 2022.

Featured Press

Works by New Britain native Sol LeWitt gets wider audience with new exhibit
New Britain Herald, January 18, 2022

Sol LeWitt Prints Exhibit Extends To Delamar West Hartford
by Chris Dehnel, West Hartford Patch, January 18, 2022

Sol LeWitt Prints on Display at Delamar West Hartford
We-Ha | West Hartford News, January 19, 2022