Color & Black, 30 x 20/3
1991
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color spitbite aquatint on wove Somerset paper
Dimensions
plate: 45.72 × 22.86 cm (18 × 9 in.) sheet: 67.63 × 50.48 cm (26 5/8 × 19 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2011.119.39.3
Art Historical Context
Sol LeWitt's *Color & Black, x 20/3* (1991) is a striking example of the artist's lifelong exploration of color, geometry, and systematic processes in printmaking. Created as a color spitbite aquat on wove Somerset paper this work measures 18 × 9 inches on the plate and 26⅝ × 19⅞ inches on the sheet. LeWitt, a pioneer of Conceptual and Minimalist art, often used prints to democratize his ideas, producing editions that made complex abstractions accessible beyond gallery walls. The spitbite aquatint technique is key here: it involves selectively applying saliva or a mild acid to "bite" the pla...
About the Artist
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (1928–2007) was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents; his father, a doctor and inventor, died when Sol was six, after which he lived with his mother, a nurse, and an aunt in New Britain. His mother enrolled him in art classes at the Wadsworth Atheneum, fostering his early interest in drawing. LeWitt earned a BFA from Syracuse University in 1949, w...