Sol LeWitt: Four Basic Kinds of Lines & Color

As part of his 1960s and ’70s series of serial systems for lines and colors, Sol LeWitt produced this artist book to coincide with the exhibition New Works: Structures & Early Working Drawings. In this original publication, LeWitt demonstrated the thirty-four ways that basic lines (horizontal, vertical, left-facing diagonal, and right-facing diagonal) can be rendered in four separate colors (red, yellow, blue, and black), with each page displaying a single combination (for example, horizontal lines in blue). This one is actually a composite of two earlier publications: Four Basic Kinds of Straight Lines (1969) and Four Basic Colours and Their Combinations (1971). Each left-hand page offers a black-and-white study of four types of lines executed in all possible combinations, while right-hand pages present a combinatory system of lines in the four colors. Also: It’s a total stunner and includes a 2019 reprint that you can show to your slobby friends.