"Conceptual art is not necessarily logical. The logic of a piece or series of pieces is a device that is used at times only to be ruined. Logic may be used to camouflage the real intent of the artist, to lull the viewer into the belief that he understands the work, or to infer a paradoxical situation (such as logic vs illogic).* The ideas need not be complex. Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free even to surprise himself. Ideas are discovered by intuition.

*Some ideas are logical in conception and illogical perceptually."

Source: Sol Lewitt. 1967. "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art". Artforum, 5 n¤.10 (June 1967): 79-83. Reprinted in Garrels, Gary, ed. 2000. Sol Lewitt: A Retrospective. pp. 369-371. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

"In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.* When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. This kind of art is not theoretical or illustrative of theories; it is intuitive, it is involved with all types of mental processes and it is purposeless. It is usually free from the dependence of the skill of the artist as craftsman. It is the objective of the artist who is concerned with conceptual art to make his work mentally interesting to the spectator, and therefore usually he would want it to become emotionally dry. There is no reason to suppose, however, that the conceptual artist is out to bore the viewer. It is only the expectation of an emotional kick, to which one conditioned to expressionist art is accustomed, that would deter the viewer from perceiving this art.

*In other forms of art the concept may be changed in the process of execution"

Source: Sol Lewitt. 1967. "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art". Artforum, 5 n¤.10 (June 1967): 79-83. Reprinted in Garrels, Gary, ed. 2000. Sol Lewitt: A Retrospective. pp. 369-371. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

"Conceptual art is good only when the idea is good"


Sol Lewitt. 1967. "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art". Artforum, 5 n¤.10 (June 1967): 79-83. Reprinted in Garrels, Gary, ed. 2000. Sol Lewitt: A Retrospective. pp. 369-371. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

"The editor has written me that he is in favor of avoiding 'The notion that the artist is a kind of ape that has to explained by the civilised critic.' This should be good news to both artists and apes"


Sol Lewitt. 1967. "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art". Artforum, 5 n¤.10 (June 1967): 79-83. Reprinted in Garrels, Gary, ed. 2000. Sol Lewitt: A Retrospective. pp. 369-371. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

"The event that made conceivable the realization that it was possible to 'speak another language' and still make sense in art was marcel Duchamps' first unassigned readymade. With the unassisted readymade, art changed its focus trom the form of the language to what was being said. Which means that it changed the nature of art from a question of morphology to a question of function. This change - one from 'appearance' to 'conception' - was the beginning of 'modern art' and the beginning of 'conceptual art'. "
- Peter Osborne

Source: Osborne, Peter. 2002. Conceptual Art. p. 13. London: Phaidon Press.

All art (after Duchamps) is conceptual (in nature) because art only exists conceptually
- Joseph Kosuth

Source: Joseph Kosuth, in "Art after Philosophy", 1969, quoted in Osborne, Peter. 2002. Conceptual Art. London: Phaidon Press.