Autobiography by Sol LeWitt, First Edition

Autobiography by Sol LeWitt

First Edition, First Printing, 1980

FINE Condition

This is a very rare first edition, first printing of Sol LeWitt’s critically acclaimed photobook “Autobiography” published by Multiples and Lois and Michael Torf, New York and Boston in 1980. Adam Weinberg in his excellent critique on the book entitled, “LeWitt’s Autobiography: Inventory to the Present” wrote, “When published, “Autobiography” was one of LeWitt’s eighteen “artist books” and one of six photography books. ..These books are no less profound than “Autobiography”, but “Autobiography” is a more complex, ambitious, and in some respects, intimate project…In “Autobiography” LeWitt presents more than a thousand black-and-white images in grids, generally nine to a page. The artist catalogues virtually every corner, crevice, and item in his loft. We see an aggregate of unposed images – the bare facts of his everyday existence.  We investigate each image, but the significance of this autobiography derives from the connection between images on a page, on a spread, and from page to page, as much as from any individual picture… LeWitt’s artist books situate themselves among dozens of the artist’s structures, wall drawings, drawings, and prints. For LeWitt, none of these works or media occupies a privileged position. Each work is a part of a chain of artistic production. Every work is part of a nonhierarchical whole. Thus, contradictorily, LeWitt’s “Autobiography” purports to be just another work, yet its special significance is undeniable. ..In “Autobiography”, Lewitt presents the life of the artist as the life of a particular person, in a particular culture, at a particular time and place. Nevertheless, “Autobiography” is unique in his oeuvre. For LeWitt, whose drawings, wall drawings, and structures are seemingly so pure and pared down, “Autobiography is an unparalleled work. While it takes its place as one work among “equals,” it is singular in its demonstration that LeWitts’s abstract, geometric forms are inextricable from the experience of his life and culture.”

Measuring approximately 10.25” x 10.25”, the book is bound in stiff wraps with a photographically illustrated dust jacket. The book and dust jacket are in FINE condition with the dust jacket evidencing superficial surface wear. Overall, this is an exceptional copy of a notoriously fragile photobook that is rarely found in such remarkable condition..

Photographs of the front and back of the dust jacket, the front cover wrap, as well as a representative two page photograph from the book appear below. Please note that although the photographs appear digitized as thumbnails, they are viewable in the photo viewer by running your mouse over the thumbnail. You can also click on the thumbnail to open a separate window where the pictures are viewable as a slideshow.