Wall Drawing 365

A square divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts, each with a progressively darker gradation of gray.

February 1984

India ink wash and color ink wash

LeWitt Collection, Chester, Connecticut

First Installation
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

First Drawn By
David Higginbotham, Anthony Sansotta, and others

MASS MoCA Building 7
Ground Floor

Wall Drawing 365 was first installed in 1984 at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, as part of the “Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings 1968-1984” retrospective. In the exhibition this ink wash drawing would have stood out as a new direction for the artist; by the early 1980s, however, LeWitt was working primarily with ink, rather than pencil or crayon. The artist often used this medium to reiterate systems that had governed his early work made in pencil. Wall Drawing 365, for instance, is an ink version of Wall Drawing 56, whose instructions read: “A square is divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts, each with lines in four directions superimposed progressively.” Instead of superimposing lines to create varying shades of gray, the draftsmen produce gradations in gray tone by layering India ink wash.

Backstory
The version of Wall Drawing 365 on display at MASS MoCA differs from its original installation at the Stedelijk Museum in its material. Originally all ink wall drawings were done in Pelican ink. However, Pelican eventually altered its original formula, changing the colors. The LeWitt Studio then switched to an acrylic paint made by Lascaux. The draftsmen dilute the acrylic paint with water and add gloss medium to it in order to maintain the integrity of the ink wash medium.