Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Incomplete Open Cubes

Sol LeWitt American

Not on view

Incomplete Open Cubes demonstrates an artistic technique integral to the art of the 1960s: seriality. Generally speaking, serial art is generated through the application of premeditated rules or plans. In this case, LeWitt systematically explored the 122 ways of "not making a cube, all the ways of the cube not being complete," per the artist. LeWitt might have taken all the necessary steps to realize each of the 122 solutions to his query, as seen here, but the work can hardly be understood as finished in the conventional sense. It would be more precise to say, according to LeWitt, that  Incomplete Open Cubes "[runs] its course," ending abruptly. Moreover, to the extent that the cubes frame and, by extension, incorporate elements from the surrounding space, they muddy the boundary between art and world.

Incomplete Open Cubes, Sol LeWitt (American, Hartford, Connecticut 1928–2007 New York), 122 Painted wooden structures and pencil on painted wooden base

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Incomplete Open Cubes, Sol LeWitt (American, Hartford, Connecticut 1928–2007 New York), 122 Painted wooden structures and pencil on painted wooden base
Incomplete Open Cubes, Sol LeWitt (American, Hartford, Connecticut 1928–2007 New York), 122 Painted wooden structures and pencil on painted wooden base

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.