Question 1

True or false: Sol LeWitt's art was exclusively black and white with no use of color.

Accepted Answer

False. Although some early works are black and white, Sol LeWitt frequently used bright, primary colors in his wall drawings and structures, such as red, yellow, and blue.

Question 2

True or false: LeWitt's 'Scribble Wall Drawings' are created by drawing dense, overlapping graphite lines by hand.

Accepted Answer

True. Sol LeWitt's scribble wall drawings, executed by assistants following his instructions, do consist of dense, hand-drawn graphite scribbles that build up tonal variations across the wall.

Question 3

True or false: Sol LeWitt was born in 1935.

Accepted Answer

False. Sol LeWitt was born on September 9, 1928, in Hartford, Connecticut, not in 1935.

Question 4

True or false: LeWitt wrote the seminal text 'Paragraphs on Conceptual Art' in 1967.

Accepted Answer

True. This essay helped define conceptual art, arguing that the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.

Question 5

True or false: Sol LeWitt's wall drawings are typically executed by assistants following his written instructions.

Accepted Answer

True. Sol LeWitt pioneered conceptual art where the idea is primary; his wall drawings are created by others using his detailed sets of instructions, not by himself.

Question 6

True or false: LeWitt painted exclusively with primary colors and black-and-white throughout his entire career.

Accepted Answer

False. While early works used primary colors, later wall drawings and gouaches employed complex, muted palettes and pastels.

Question 7

True or false: LeWitt designed a series of 'Incomplete Open Cubes' that explore variations of missing structural parts.

Accepted Answer

True. This series systematically removes one or more edges from a standard cube, investigating form and perception.

Question 8

True or false: Sol LeWitt's instructions for wall drawings have been executed by other people, never by him personally.

Accepted Answer

True. LeWitt conceptualized the art; assistants and museum staff created the actual drawings, making the idea the primary artwork.

Question 9

True or false: Sol LeWitt wrote the influential essay 'Paragraphs on Conceptual Art' in 1967.

Accepted Answer

True. Published in Artforum in 1967, this essay is a foundational text of conceptual art, where Sol LeWitt argued that the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.

Question 10

True or false: Sol LeWitt was primarily known for large-scale outdoor sculptures made of steel.

Accepted Answer

False. Sol LeWitt is best known for his wall drawings, structures (often indoor sculptures), and conceptual works, not large outdoor steel sculptures—that describes artists like Richard Serra.

Question 11

True or false: Sol LeWitt won the Turner Prize in 1992.

Accepted Answer

False. Sol LeWitt never won the Turner Prize; the award was established in 1984 and LeWitt was American and not typically considered for that British prize.

Question 12

True or false: Sol LeWitt worked as a night receptionist at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Accepted Answer

True. In the early 1960s, Sol LeWitt took a job at MoMA's information desk, which allowed him to meet many artists and influenced his early development as an artist.

Question 13

True or false: LeWitt was a founding member of the minimalist art group known as the 'Irascible Eighteen'.

Accepted Answer

False. The 'Irascible Eighteen' were abstract expressionists from the 1950s; LeWitt belonged to a later conceptual/minimalist generation.

Question 14

True or false: LeWitt refused to allow any of his wall drawings to be photographed for copyright reasons.

Accepted Answer

False. He actively encouraged documentation; his works are widely photographed and published to disseminate the conceptual ideas.

Question 15

True or false: LeWitt's 'Open Cubes' series includes a cube made entirely of rubber bands.

Accepted Answer

False. 'Open Cubes' were skeletal, three-dimensional frameworks of wood or metal; rubber bands were not part of the series.

Question 16

True or false: Sol LeWitt created a series of sculptures titled 'Incomplete Open Cubes'.

Accepted Answer

True. Sol LeWitt produced a set of variations on an open cube, exploring different ways to remove edges; this series is a hallmark of his minimalist and conceptual approach.

Sol LeWitt Trivia Questions