Carl Andre (1935-2024) is considered one of the founders of Minimalism in the 1960s alongside other American artists such as Frank Stella, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris and Dan Flavin. He devoted his artistic career to the exploration of found, industrial materials including stone, brick, metal and lumber geometrically and systematically arranged on horizontal surfaces. Andre's sculptures typically feature ground-level configurations, no higher than one meter, of pure geometrical precision and mathematical integrity. The sculptor's commitment to the essentials of gravity and materiality, coupled with the avoidance of adhesives and fasteners, preclude any reference to more vertical anthropomorphic sculptures.

Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Andre studied art at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from 1951-53. He moved to New York City in 1956, where a mentor connected him to sculptor Constantin Brâncuși and reintroduced him to fellow Andover alum, Frank Stella, with whom he shared studio space for two years. From 1960-64, Andre worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad as a freight brakeman and conductor, contributing to his inclinations toward order, repetition, simplicity and protracted forms. Mons (Düsseldorf) utilizes the ground to define a path for the structure's extension into the distance. 92 solid, interchangeable blocks of Belgian blue limestone fit meticulously together in an alternating horizontal and vertical pattern, but without being attached, also retain enough space to breathe as individual units. Vaguely architectural, the sculpture is somewhat reminiscent of railroad tracks. Mons (Düsseldorf) was originally conceived for an exhibition at the Konrad Fischer Gallery in Düsseldorf in 1986, its title referencing the site and context of its creation. The potential for endless reconfigurations of the blocks and reinterpretations of the assembled form within different environments imbues Andre's sculpture with vitality and a sense of spatial awareness. Andre embraced the notion that perceptions of his sculptures and the environments they inhabit might shift with the position and perspective of the viewer.