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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1998.165
People
Lee Lozano, American (Newark, NJ 1930 - 1999 Dallas, TX)
Title
No title
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1967-1968 (?)
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/195009

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Graphite, black ink, and blue ball-point ink on off-white wove graph paper
Dimensions
26.8 x 20.3 cm (10 9/16 x 8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: u.r., graphite, in artist's hand: 78 x 78 / 1 sq = 3"
  • inscription: in image, graphite, in artist's hand: 6" 15" 42" 15" / 39" 15" 24"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Peter Soriano, New York, New York, gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1998.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Peter Soriano
Copyright
© Estate of Lee Lozano / Hauser & Wirth
Accession Year
1998
Object Number
1998.165
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The drawing is a study for a larger composition, yet to be identified. According to the scale written at top, the finished work should be 78 inches square. The boundaries of this square are drawn along the pre-printed lines of the graph paper with a ruler and a black ball-point pen. Inside this border, thickly overlaid straight graphite lines radiate from the central section of the baseline (2 1/2 cm. in width) and fan out across the square to cover a 9 1/2 cm. section at the top line. The effect is one of hermetic geometricism, while the carefully worked graphite lines give a material richness that transcends the mundane media. The lower section of the sheet contains five smaller squares, each with a related geometric treatment in graphite.
Commentary
The effect is one of hermetic geometricism, while the carefully worked graphite lines give a material richness that transcends the mundane media. The lower section of the sheet contains five smaller squares, each with a related geometric treatment in graphite. A design for a larger composition, the drawing shows the working method by which Lozano arrived at her hermetic, mathematically inspired paintings. The fact that it includes four alternate designs on the same sheet only makes it more interesting as a teaching object. The machine aesthetic of the precisionist movement, so influential on Lozano's work in the late 1960's, is evident in the mathematic deliberateness of the drawing and the metallic sheen of the graphite. Lozano's works are particularly rare on account of her withdrawal from the art world and even from the production of art around 1970. This "personal and public revolution" which includes an ongoing boycott of contact with other women, has become her ultimate artwork. The recognition of Lozano's importance to the history of contemporary art has grown in recent years and this drawing should be considered an important acquisition of an artist whose place in history, albeit unusual, is assured.

Exhibition History

  • Extreme Connoisseurship, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/08/2001 - 04/14/2002
  • Under Cover: Artists' Sketchbooks, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/2006 - 10/22/2006
  • 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/04/2021 - 04/18/2022

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu