Wall drawings are a significant aspect of Sol LeWitt’s art; he has completed more than 400 of them since 1968. For these often monumental works, LeWitt begins with an idea, which he writes as a set of instructions that anyone may execute, in any location, any number of times. The artist has compared his role to that of a musical composer who, after composing a score, leaves the interpretation and the conditions of the performance up to conductors and musicians.
Four Geometric Figures in a Room was commissioned by the Walker in 1984 for this site. LeWitt’s instructions for this drawing are as follows:
Four geometric figures (circle, square, trapezoid, parallelogram) drawn with four-inch (10 cm) wide band of yellow color ink wash. The areas inside the figures are blue color ink wash, and the areas outside the figures are red color ink wash. On each side of the walls are bands of India ink wash.
Four Geometric Figures in a Room was executed under the supervision of the artist by Jo Watanabe, Kate Hunt, and Owen Osten.