BIOGRAPHY: Born 1928 in Hartford, Connecticut. Lewitt received a BFA from Syracuse University in 1949. The artist worked as a draftsman for the architect I. M. Pei in the 1950s and in 1960 took a job at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. There Lewitt met several other influential young artists including Dan Flavin, Robert Ryman, Robert Mangold and Scott Burton. In the 1960s, Lewitt made open modular white cubes that are seminal works in the history of minimalism. Using mathematical systems, the artist emphasized the conceptual basis of art in direct opposition to the expressiveness and gesture identified with the work of the abstract expressionists. In the 1970s, Lewitt introduced architectural-scale wall drawings based on verbal proposals or systems he suggested but executed by others. In the 1980s, the artist’s wall drawings became more expressive with sensual color applied to various permutations of geometric shapes. In the past decade, Lewitt has used undulating waves and swirling bands of color that are hot, bold and highly decorative.