The Blue Wall

The Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (the USA).

Oil on canvas, wood.

To create this early work, Sol LeWitt used traditional materials: canvas, oil and painted wood. The picture is a square canvas of saturated blue covered with a dense texture; there is a bright red wooden square in the middle. Based on the contrast of colour and materials, the canvas indicates the influence of the works of Jasper Johns, whom the artist met during a visit to the exhibition in MoMA. It also shows LeWitt’s striving for strict geometric forms, orderliness and thoughtfulness of the composition, which symbolizes his transition from abstract art to minimalism.