Tuttle gained recognition in the late 1960s as one of the post-minimalist artists -together with such artists as Eva Hesse and Richard Serra--who took the tenets of minimalism in different directions, rejecting sharp edges and industrial finish in favor of a freer, more organic approach and creating works that are, especially in the case of Tuttle, more modest, delicate, and vulnerable. Drawing is an important medium for Tuttle, not only because it is part of his daily practice, but also because his work constantly questions and reconsiders what a drawing is. This set of watercolors is part of a small group of "stacked color" drawings Tuttle made in the early 1970s, inspired by the shapes of wire sculptures he was producing at the same time. The use of color reflects Tuttle's interest in the art of some of the pioneers of abstraction who, at the beginning of the twentieth century, explored the relationship between abstraction and color, notably Sonia and Robert Delaunay and Paul Klee.
Inscription written in graphite along bottom edge of all sheets, added by the artist in 2018: THIS IS A SET OF DRAWINGS EXPLORING FULL CHROMATICISM AS NATURE OF WIRE WITHIN THE IDEA OF STACKED COLOR. THEY ARE ALSO A TEST FOR WHAT YOU CAN SEE AND HOW MANY TIMES YOU HAVE TO TRY TO GET IT RIGHT IN GROWTH AND FORM.