Louise Nevelson

Martha Jackson Gallery, Inc., New York
The Pace Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1980

Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; San Francisco Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; Atlanta, The High Museum of Art; Kansas City, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Nevelson Wood Sculptures, November 1973 - March 1975, cat. no. 22, fig. 36, p. 43, illustrated
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Louise Nevelson Atmospheres and Environments, May - September 1980, cat. no. 38, pp. 120 and 189, illustrated

This work is in good and gernerally sound condition overall. A few of the elements on the bottom portion of the scultpure are slightly loose where they extend beyond the main body of the sculpture. There is scattered craquelure, most of which appears stable. There are minor spot paint losses, concentrated primarily on the bottom portion of the sculpture. There is a 3 inch area of paint loss in the lower left corner of one of the sides as well as a few scattered unobtrusive scuffs on the surface of the paint.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1959, Louise Nevelson, along with Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, Jasper Johns and several others, was invited by curator Dorothy Miller to participate in the Sixteen Americans exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition aimed to proclaim the new avant-garde American artists thought to be at the pinnacle of their artistic generation. As such, Sixteen Americans was the exhibition that by many accounts, upon its debut, was perceived as a "seismic shift in the artworld." (Exh. Cat., The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend, New York, The Jewish Museum, 2007, p. 5.) Nevelson's contribution to the exhibition was the construction of a fantastically ambitious, intimate and autobiographically reflexive room environment populated with complex white wood constructions and was met with immediate acclaim.