Wall Drawing 95

On a wall divided vertically into fifteen equal parts, vertical lines, not straight, using four colors in all one-, two-, three-, and four-part combinations.

July 1971

Colored pencil

Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée national d’’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle

First Installation
Toselli Gallery, Milan

First Drawn By
Sol LeWitt

MASS MoCA Building 7
Ground Floor

Several of Sol LeWitt’’s early wall drawings present all possible combinations of straight lines drawn in four directions. For example, Wall Drawing 85, on display at MASS MoCA, illustrates all possible combinations of gray, yellow, red, and blue straight lines superimposed, or layered. The layers of colored lines produce various secondary and intermediate colors. Wall Drawing 95 is similar to Wall Drawing 85 in that it depicts all possible combinations of lines drawn in the four basic colors; however, the lines in Wall Drawing 95 are not straight. Thus, they are drawn next to each other, rather than superimposed. The effect of drawing the lines next to each other reveals LeWitt’’s understanding of color theory. It produces a pointillistic effect: the eye perceives the various combinations of primary colored lines as a fuller range of tones. For example, a panel containing a combination of gray, yellow, and red lines will appear to be a muted shade of orange.