Lines in Four Directions in Flowers

Sol LeWitt

Artwork Details

Title
Lines in Four Directions in Flowers
Artist
Sol LeWitt (1928 – 2007)
Year
Temporarily installed 2012 to 2015
Location
Not on view
Medium
Plant
Dimensions
Height 2', length 80', width 54'

Artwork Description

The Association for Public Art has a long-standing history of partnering with the institutions along the Parkway. In 2012 the Philadelphia Art Museum along with OLIN architects and designers brought to life Sol LeWitt’s Lines in Four Directions in Flowers, 30 years after the Association (then the Fairmount Park Art Association) originally commissioned the work in 1981 as part of its Form and Function program. The garden was installed behind the Philadelphia Art Museum in the William M. Reilly Memorial as the artist had intended and deinstalled in 2015.

From Form and Function: Proposals for Public Art for Philadelphia: “Sol LeWitt uses the grid as a fundamental structure, and the configuration of parallel lines is basic to his work. LeWitt proposed a garden which would consist ‘of flower plantings of four different colors (white, yellow, red and blue) in four equal rectangular areas, in rows of four directions (vertical, horizontal, diagonal left and right) framed by evergreen hedges of about 2’ in height. In the winter the rows of plants would retain their linear direction, in the summer the flowers would bloom and provide color. The type of plant, height, distance apart, and planting details would be under the direction of a botanist and the maintenance by a gardener.’”

Artwork Credits

Original proposal commissioned by Association for Public Art (formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association)

Executed by the Philadelphia Art Museum and OLIN architects and designers