Sarasota Art Museum to Present Major Survey of Prints by Conceptual Art Pioneer Sol LeWitt

Exhibition shines a light on the underrepresented printmaking career of one of America’s most inventive and influential Modern-era artists.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is pleased to present “Beautiful Ideas: The Prints of Sol LeWitt,” on view from May 17 through October 25, 2026. This exhibition explores the extensive printmaking career of Sol LeWitt (1928–2007), a leader of the American Minimalism and Conceptual art movements who famously declared that “the idea becomes a machine that makes the art.”

While Sol LeWitt is best known for his monumental wall drawings and modular sculptures, which he referred to as “structures,” this exhibition highlights how printmaking—inherently serial and mechanical in nature—served as an essential laboratory for the artist’s conceptual experiments, influencing his work across other mediums. Organized by the New Britain Museum of American Art and curated by David S. Areford, Professor of Art History at the University of Massachusetts Boston, “Beautiful Ideas: The Prints of Sol LeWitt” features over 100 prints by the artist, deepening our understanding of LeWitt’s visual and ideational explorations and artistic evolution.

“We are thrilled to bring this incredible collection of prints by Sol LeWitt to Southwest Florida, offering our visitors a chance to see how one of the 20th century’s most influential artists used simple instructions to create infinite beauty,” said Virginia Shearer, executive director of Sarasota Art Museum. “Visitors know Sarasota Art Museum as a place where they can experience cutting-edge contemporary art, immersive installations that burst off the gallery walls and work by some of today’s most exciting rising talents. In addition to contemporary art, SAM is also committed to deepening visitors’ appreciation for modernism, and that’s important because it gives attendees vital historical context for what came before and, ultimately, sets the stage for the art of today. Sol LeWitt is an excellent example of this, and we can’t wait to share this incredible work with Sarasota audiences.”

As a conceptual artist, for LeWitt, it was the idea, not the execution, that ultimately drove the work. Through his then revolutionary art process, LeWitt conceived and established predetermined plans and instructions for his projects. These plans were then turned over to teams of assistants, draftsmen and installation specialists who executed the large-scale drawings and structures on-site at the determined installation space. Today, we recognize this same approach in such contemporary and modern artists as Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami and Andy Warhol, each acting as conceptual directors, focusing on the idea, design and oversight, while specialized craftspeople execute the production.

Printmaking was a practice, which allowed LeWitt to work out these concepts and experiment with materials and techniques. The medium also resonated with the artist’s deeply rooted graphic and mechanical sensibilities. Despite the notoriety of LeWitt’s murals and sculptures, printmaking was in no way secondary to the artist. Over the course of his 40-year artistic career, in addition to over 1,000 wall drawings and structures, Sol LeWitt generated more than 350 print projects, including thousands of lithographs, silkscreens, etchings, aquatints, woodcuts and linocuts. From the representational and figurative subject matter of his earliest prints to the more modernist and geometric compositions of his mid-career to late works, “Beautiful Ideas: The Prints of Sol LeWitt” offers visitors a glimpse inside the artist’s thinking process and creative journey. Organized into four thematic sections—“Lines, Arcs, Circles, and Grids,” “Bands and Colors,” “From Geometric Figures to Complex Forms” and “Wavy, Curvy, Loopy Doopy and in All Directions,” this exhibition reflects the bold geometric shapes, precise lines and revolutionary approach that defined LeWitt’s artistic style and impact.

,A related scholarly publication, “Strict Beauty: Sol LeWitt Prints,” was produced in 2020.

Related Events

Opening Day Talk with David S. Areford, Guest Curator
Reversals & Rotations: Sol LeWitt’s Print Strategies

DATE Saturday, May 16, 2026

TIME 1–2 pm

LOCATION Sarasota High School Alumni Auditorium at SAM

TICKETS $20 ($10 for Sarasota Art Museum Members)

Join guest curator David Areford as he explores the prints of American artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). When LeWitt began pursuing printmaking in 1970, he quickly homed in on the medium’s inherent technical and mechanical properties that best served his approach to conceptual art. Two print-specific characteristics were especially productive—reversal and rotation. LeWitt employed these strategically to achieve a range of meanings and effects, from clever references to Italian Renaissance art to dynamic activations of pictorial space.

About Sarasota Art Museum

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is the city’s only Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Founded in 2019, SAM features an ever-rotating lineup of world-class exhibitions, dynamic programs, and enriching educational offerings, and serves as a creative gathering place for curious minds from across the Gulf Coast, Southeast United States, and beyond. Housed in the historic former Sarasota High School, the Museum has revitalized and reimagined the towering landmark and architectural treasure, connecting Sarasota’s past with its present. Today, SAM is home to 15,000 square feet of gallery exhibition space, where nationally touring shows, as well as curated and commissioned exhibits by both renowned and emerging artists, deepen visitors’ appreciation for 20th and 21st century art. More at SarasotaArtMuseum.org.