Einstein Acquires Installation From Influential Modern Artist Sol LeWitt

According to a release from the Einstein Heatlhcare Network, a new installation of artwork by transformative modern artist Sol LeWitt will grace the first floor hallway of the new hospital for the next 25 years. The piece is reportedly on loan from the late artist's estate.

According to the release, the piece, Wall Drawing #972, "demonstrates the vision of Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, where architecture, design and efficiency work together with staff excellence and medical innovation to deliver an unparalleled patient experience."

The loan also provides the public a rare opportunity to access an important work of art. The installation is on view for the public during normal hospital visiting hours.

Einstein HealthCare Network President and Chief Executive Officer Barry R. Freedman and his team have reportedly sought to acquire artworks for the hospital that both elevate and comfort, like the Labor and Delivery series by local artist collective MamaCita to bold modern works like the LeWitt. Even the hospital’s south-facing pastoral panoramic view of Norristown Farm Park adds to the beauty of the hospital.

"Hosting a piece of art by the father of Conceptual art is consistent with how we’re working to transform healthcare in the region," wrote Freedman in the release. "It also represents our outreach to the community — this is a famous work that is now accessible to anyone."

The work was previously displayed only at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. 

Like an architect’s blueprints or a composer’s score, LeWitt’s wall drawings begin as sets of instructions meant to be deciphered and interpreted. The installation of the work, executed by a crew of on-site artists tasked with following LeWitt’s sometimes-vague instructions, is considered a part of the artwork itself.

"Since art is a vehicle for the transmission of ideas through form, the reproduction of the form only reinforces the concept," LeWitt once said of interpretive pieces like the wall drawings. "It is the idea that is being reproduced, [so] anyone who understands the work of art owns it."

For Wall Drawing #972, an installation crew of four local artists and two artist representatives from the LeWitt estate spent 27 days painstakingly transferring the artist’s vision onto the main corridor using painter’s tape, pencils and acrylic paint. The crew was led by Kutztown University graduate and Bethlehem, Pa., resident Andy Colbert, along with artist Takeshi Arita. 

"Each project brings a new architectural or drafting challenge," said Colbert, who has installed LeWitt wall drawings around the world. "It’s more like a collaboration with the artist than just working on it."