Brushstrokes

In the 1990s, Sol LeWitt departed from cubes and geometric lines to depict wavy, free-flowing brushstrokes. Though LeWitt rarely executed his works (such as his iconic wall drawings) by hand, the conceptual artist decided to paint these squiggly brushstrokes himself, creating original gouache compositions that are now among his most desirable works on the market. His painting Wavy Brushstroke (1995) set the auction record for the series, selling for nearly $750,000 at Sotheby’s in 2014. Between 1993 and 1997, LeWitt also experimented with his brushstrokes motif through printmaking, repeating the forms in different orientations, colors, and techniques, such as etching, silkscreen, and photolithography. These prints—which can be found in the permanent collections of MoMA, SFMoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and more—capture LeWitt’s obsession with single shapes that can take on infinite configurations.