Wall Drawing 16

Bands of lines 12 inches (30 cm) wide, in three directions (vertical, horizontal, diagonal right) intersecting.

September 1969

Black pencil

Collection Michalke

First Installation
Institute of Contemporary Art, London

First Drawn By
James Walker

MASS MoCA Building 7
Ground Floor

Early in his career, Sol LeWitt began to have others help execute his wall drawings. Wall Drawing 16, for example, was first drawn by James Walker. By allowing other draftsmen to realize his work according to his instructions and diagrams, LeWitt addressed practical concerns such as the time-consuming nature of the drawings. More significantly, however, this choice articulated LeWitt’’s belief that the conception of the idea, rather than its execution, constitutes the art work. He was also rejecting the traditional importance assigned to the artist’s own hand.

LeWitt executed the earliest wall drawings within a square, usually four by four feet wide, but by 1969 he was using the entire wall, as evident in Wall Drawing 16.