Louise Nevelson

Kindly donated by Pace Gallery

Louise Nevelson

Born 1899 in Pereiaslav, Ukraine. Died 1988 in New York City, New York, USA.

Louise Nevelson sculpted assemblages from found wood objects and painted them all one color, most notably black.  She went on to brilliantly use other materials, e.g. Cor-Ten steel, aluminum, Plexiglas.  Her unique process transformed everyday materials into compositions that transcended space and altered the viewer's perception of art.  Exhibition rooms of monochromatic works on the floor, walls and sometimes hanging from the ceiling, allowed the visitor passage through her world of the mysterious, of the fourth dimension.

Nevelson also considered her persona as an extension of the sculptures and delightfully collaged ethnic clothing with jewelry, her head wrapped in scarves and riding hats, and eyes highlighted with layers of velvety black mink eyelashes into a unique fashion, making Eleanor Lambert's "Best Dressed International Women" fashion list in 1977.

Photographers found a fascinating subject in Louise Nevelson and Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Cecil Beaton, Pedro E. Guererro, Jack Mitchell,  Marie Cosindas, Diana Mackown, Arnold Newman, and Richard Avedon, to name "a few", have given us memorable portraits of this captivating grande dame of the art world.

Louise Nevelson was celebrated in her lifetime.  She received numerous recognitions, e.g. National Medal of the Arts, Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture, Brandeis University Creative Arts Award in Sculpture, National Arts Club Gold Medal in the Visual Arts, American Institute of Architects Medal, Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and awarded two magnificent commissions - the "Louise Nevelson Plaza" an outdoor environmental park in Lower Manhattan and the indoor environmental "Nevelson Chapel" of the Good Shepherd at St. Peter's Church in Midtown Manhattan.  Major museums, municipalities, and esteemed private collections worldwide avidly purchased her works and still do so today.