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Introducing Mrs. N
Louise Nevelson (1899 - 1988) was a major twentieth century sculptor, widely known for her abstract monochromatic wood "assemblages" - large sculptures comprised of found objects and usually painted black, white, or gold. At times, these sculptures were arranged into "environments" which would fill whole exhibition rooms, thus making her work an all-encompassing and monumental experience. Nevelson imbued her life and persona with the same sense of drama that she applied to her artwork. The spectacle of her appearance - her extravagant wardrobe, her self-made jewelry echoing her sculptures, and the multiple layers of long sable eyelashes - was matched by her tendency to mythologize her own past.
Born as Leah Berliawsky in Kiev, Nevelson emigrated from Russia to Rockland, Maine with her family in 1905. She married shipping magnate Charles Nevelson in 1920, a decision which both gained her access to a privileged life in New York and deeply contradicted her craving for a free, unconventional life as an artist. The marriage finally crumbled when Nevelson decided to study under the renowned art teacher Hans Hoffman in Germany.
Nevelson began exhibiting her work in New York galleries and museums in 1933. In the late 1950s, large wall sculptures became prominent in Nevelson's work. Some of her noted exhibitions include Moon Garden + One (1958) at Grand Central Moderns, Sky Columns (1959) at the Martha Jackson Gallery, and Dawn's Wedding Feast (1959) at the Museum of Modern Art.
In 1962, she represented the United States at the Venice International Biennale and went on to have retrospectives of her work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1967 and 1980. By the late 1960s, Nevelson was receiving frequent commissions for large metal outdoor sculptures and she displayed work on New York's Park Avenue, at Princeton University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shadows and Flags, a series of seven large metal sculptures, was installed in the Legion Memorial Plaza near Wall Street, which was renamed "Louise Nevelson Plaza" - the first public place to be named after an artist in New York City. Nevelson died in 1988 after being diagnosed with cancer.
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