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13/3

Sol LeWitt American
1981
Not on view
13/3 is an abstract sculpture composed of identical modules assembled according to the simple plan documented in the title: a thirteen-by-thirteen grid from which three towers rise. Interestingly, LeWitt did not consider his otherwise systematic work rational. Indeed, he aimed to "break out of the whole idea of rationality." "In a logical sequence," LeWitt wrote, in which a predetermined algorithm, not the artist, dictates the work of art, "you don’t think about it. It is a way of not thinking. It is irrational." The work’s balsa wood legs cast shadows that multiply and disarrange the modules. In addition, the modules act as frames that fracture the surrounding space. Overall, 13/3 creates perceptual effects both vertiginous and disorderly.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: 13/3
  • Artist: Sol LeWitt (American, Hartford, Connecticut 1928–2007 New York)
  • Date: 1981
  • Medium: Painted balsa wood
  • Dimensions: 31 3/8 × 31 3/8 × 31 3/8 in., 4.8 lb. (79.7 × 79.7 × 79.7 cm, 2.2 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Madeline Mohr Gift and Rogers Fund, 1982
  • Object Number: 1982.226
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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Loopy Doopy, White on Black, Sol LeWitt American, Oil-based woodcut on Japanese paper
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