Glasscock unveils ‘spectacular’ LeWitt wall drawings

Nov. 18 ‘Solebration’ celebrated the importance of art and ideas

Among the luminaries who attended the Nov. 18 unveiling of two highly anticipated Sol LeWitt wall drawings inside Rice’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies was a woman who knew the conceptual artist better than anyone else: Carol LeWitt, the artist’s widow.

Melbern and Susanne Glasscock celebrated alongside Rice president David Leebron at the Nov. 18 Solebration. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow)

“I will not give you a lecture on conceptual art,” LeWitt said in her remarks to the crowd assembled to witness the finished “Wall Drawing #1115,” recently gifted to Rice Public Art by H. Russell Pitman ‘58, and “Wall Drawing #869A,” a long-term loan from the Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.

“But I will share one of my favorite quotes of Sol’s, and that was: ‘Ideas belong to those who understand them.’”

LeWitt’s large-scale “Wall Drawing #1115” had recently received its final coat of shiny lacquer after a meticulous installation on the south wall of the Dean’s Commons inside the Glasscock School. Even as dusk settled outside, its colors remained vibrant, a bright new beacon in a place devoted, as LeWitt was, to the transmission of ideas.

“Wall Drawing #869A” was executed by a team of Rice and Glasscock professors, students and volunteers. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow)

Upstairs, the smaller “Wall Drawing #869A,” which was executed by a team of Rice and Glasscock professors, students and volunteers, invited closer inspection of its intricate cascade of lines.

Each one had been drawn by an individual hand, with the final result created by the group’s in toto “democratic hand” — a phrase LeWitt often used to describe the execution of his art.

“It just seemed so appropriate for Continuing Studies,” said Susanne Glasscock ’62, trustee emeritus. “I can’t imagine anything more appropriate for this space.”

“Wall Drawing #869A” will remain on loan for three years, after which it will be removed and, someday in the future, installed again somewhere by new hands in a new place.

“Wall Drawing #1115,” was gifted to Rice Public Art by H. Russell Pitman ‘58. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow)

The two-story “Wall Drawing #1115,” however, is now a permanent part of the Dean’s Commons for generations of students to enjoy.

“One student walked in this morning and she stopped and she gasped and she said, ‘That’s spectacular.’ And I have to admit I agree with her,” said Robert Bruce, dean of the Glasscock School, as he addressed both the audience that evening and, more emphatically, longtime Rice benefactor Pitman.

“So there’s our symbol, Russ,” Bruce said. “And we have you and your generosity to thank for it.”

Want to see the exciting process of executing a Sol LeWitt from beginning to end? Check out these time-lapse videos of the installations of both “Wall Drawing #1115” and “Wall Drawing #869A.”