Louise
Nevelson:
Sculptor
Louise Nevelson was born Louise Berliawsky
in 1899 in Kiev, Russia. Her family
immigrated to the U.S. in 1904 to
Rockland, Maine. Her father was a
successful builder and lumberyard owner.
This fact would have some influence on her
later artwork.
In 1920 she married
Charles Nevelson and
moved to New York.
At this time she
studied visual and
performing arts,
including drama.
In 1928 she enrolled at
the Art Students
League.
From 1932-33 Nevelson
worked with Diego
Rivera on his murals
in New York.
The mural was later
removed because of
the communist theme
it portrayed.
She started to make
sculpture in 1932 and
in 1944 she began
experimenting with
wooden assemblages.
Untitled, 1950’s, painted wood.
31x12x11.5”
Sky Cathedral, 1958, Wood 115x135x20”
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York
Near the end of
the 1950’s, she
began the
‘sculptured walls’
for which she
later became
internationally
famous.
These were wall-like reliefs
made up of many boxes
and compartments into
which abstract shapes are
assembled together with
commonplace objects
such as chair legs, bits of
balustrades, and other
‘found objects’.
Dawn’s Wedding Chapel IV, 1959,
Painted wood. 109x87x13”
Royal Tide I, 1960, Painted wood
86x40x8”
Nevelson’s creative assemblages
were sometimes painted a
uniform black, or later white or
gold. They won her a reputation
as a leader in abstract art in
America.
She was a flamboyant character,
dressing very dramatically and
wearing layers of mink eyelashes.
She said, “Some of us come on
earth seeing – some of us come
on earth seeing color.”
She was also
known for her
environmental
sculptures.
Above: Seventh Decade in a Forest, 1971-76.
Aluminum & steel, Baltimore, Maryland.
Right: Dawn Shadows, 1983, 33 tons of Aluminum &
steel, Los Angeles.
Dark Presence III, 1971.
In 1967, Louise had a woman’s show at the
Whitney Museum which became the turning point
in her life. She continued to create and exhibit her
works during the 70’s and 80’s.
The U.S. Postal
Service even
paid tribute
to Louise
Nevelson by
making
stamps with
her artwork
on them.
Louise Nevelson was a
woman with a very
independent mind who threw
off the shackles and
restrictions of her life to
become an outstanding
sculptor.
She lived until 1988.
Resources:
www.enotes.com
www.guggenheimcollection.org
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
Your assignment will be to create your own
portion of an assemblage. To do this, you
will begin with a shoebox, which will hold
your sculpture.
Then, you will glue items that you have
brought which have meaning to you into
the box. Pay attention to the way the
items are placed.
Next, you will choose a color that you think
represents you. You will paint most of the
things in your box a solid color, in the style
of Louise Nevelson.
Lastly, to complete your box you will add the
letters of your first name in some creative
way. The letters must be put on some
items, not just written or painted into your
box.
When everyone is finished with their
boxes, we will hot glue all of them
together to create a “wall” assemblage to
display that tells others something about
each one of you. By putting them all
together, you create something bigger and
more diverse than any one of you would
be able to achieve.
DO NOT RUSH THIS!!! Your work needs to
look nice and neat so it can be displayed.