Louise Nevelson
Untitled
Artist
Louise Nevelson
(1899, Pereiaslav - 1988, New York), American
Original Title
Untitled
Date1960
Mediumcardboard and spray paint collage on board
Dimensions92 × 61 cm
Classifications
collages
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionLouise Nevelson was an essential figure of twentieth-century art, who contributed to a substantial redefinition of sculpture as a medium. The distinctiveness of her approach stemmed from an innovative artistic use of scrap materials. The main currents of her art included immersive, site-specific installations, monochromatic wooden objects, and collages and assemblages composed of varied materials. Nevelson’s early work from the 1930s was influenced by cubism and so-called primitive art. Later, she developed her practice toward abstract sculptures and assemblages in primary colours, made out of scrap materials. Her artistic approach was influenced by the work of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, Kurt Schwitters, and Hans Arp; it extensively drew on personal memory and was centred on combining of individual components into larger wholes. The principle of merging different elements into a final composition also mirrored Nevelson’s view of New York as her greatest inspiration and the biggest collage demonstrative of the diversity and colourfulness resulting from the convergence of often significantly extraneous elements. Nevelson exclusively used spray paint to paint her artworks, a preference linked to a rejection of the gestural approach of characteristic of abstract expressionism. She viewed her own work as reflective of the woman’s perspective, which significantly shaped its poetic sensitivity, harmony, and compositional rhythm. Nevelson entered the mature stage of her career during the 1960s, creating large assemblages and sculptural installations made of wood and metal and monochromatically painted white, black, or gold. Between 1964 and 1974, she produced a series of transparent sculptures made of plexiglass, which represented a step toward negating the material dimension of her work. The most fluid and experimental segment of Nevelson’s oeuvre are her collages. These are based on an arbitrary composition of cardboard, wood, and paper, as well as an incorporation of found fragments and subtle interventions with black spray paint, together evoking an authentic transcription of the beauty surrounding us. Nevelson already began intensively working with collages during the 1950s; thus, despite being treated as private matter throughout her life, they are closely related to her sculptural work. Unlike the architecturally conceived monochromatic installations, Nevelson’s collages are flatter and more intimate, comprising a greater diversity of colours and materials, subsequently drawing much of their expressive power from the contrasts of varied surfaces, colours, and textures.
Untitled (1960) is part of a series of box collages, which Nevelson mostly created between 1952 and 1963. These works comprise wooden crates and cardboard boxes, which form their primary compositional element. These collages are meant to evoke a view of an abstract landscape, with the gradual shading in tones of black and the translucent surface of the box intensifying the perception of their depth. Thus, using strictly non-painterly devices, Nevelson managed to create a collage composed in a painterly manner and based on the differing materialities of its constituent objects. Her sensitive approach, based on a new use of existing objects, resonated with the contemporary approach of the abstract expressionists but also strongly differed from them by seeking inspiration in the surrounding world.
Louise Nevelson (1899, Kiev – 1988, New York), born Leah Berliawsky, came from a Ukranian family. In 1905, her family moved to Rockland in Maine, USA, where she received her primary and secondary education, and eventually married Charles Nevelson. In 1920, they settled in New York City, where she studied music and theatre, frequented avantgarde art galleries, and grappled with her new social role as a wife and a mother. In 1931, Nevelson left to study in Munich under German painter Hans Hoffmann. She subsequently travelled to Italy and Paris, where she became particularly captivated by cubism as well as the African art she saw at the Musée de l´Homme, which she would later start collecting. After returning to New York, she again studied under Hoffmann while also assisting Diego Rivera, and soon thereafter began fully developing her own artistic career. In 1935, she featured in a group exhibition of young sculptors at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (Sculpture: A Group Exhibition by Young Sculptors). In September 1941, she had her first solo exhibition at New York’s Nierendorf Gallery; two years later, she took part in the exhibition Thirty-One-Woman, dedicated to women artists, which took place at the Art of This Century Gallery in New York. During the 1950s, Nevelson became an influential, highly respected figure on the US art scene, with her work being purchased by prestigious museums in the USA, such as the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1959, her work was included in the momentous exhibition Sixteen Americans, held at the Museum of Modern Art. During the 1960s, Nevelson received recognition in Europe, particularly following her presentation at the United States pavilion at the 32nd Venice Biennale in 1962 as well as her inclusion in the international exhibition documenta in Kassel in 1964 and 1968. In 1967, a major retrospective of Nevelson’s work was held at the Whitney Museum, consolidating her status on the contemporary art scene. Numerous retrospectives of international significance followed—the most recent, focused on Nevelson’s assemblages, took place in 2022 as part of the 59th Venice Biennale.
Untitled (1960) is part of a series of box collages, which Nevelson mostly created between 1952 and 1963. These works comprise wooden crates and cardboard boxes, which form their primary compositional element. These collages are meant to evoke a view of an abstract landscape, with the gradual shading in tones of black and the translucent surface of the box intensifying the perception of their depth. Thus, using strictly non-painterly devices, Nevelson managed to create a collage composed in a painterly manner and based on the differing materialities of its constituent objects. Her sensitive approach, based on a new use of existing objects, resonated with the contemporary approach of the abstract expressionists but also strongly differed from them by seeking inspiration in the surrounding world.
Louise Nevelson (1899, Kiev – 1988, New York), born Leah Berliawsky, came from a Ukranian family. In 1905, her family moved to Rockland in Maine, USA, where she received her primary and secondary education, and eventually married Charles Nevelson. In 1920, they settled in New York City, where she studied music and theatre, frequented avantgarde art galleries, and grappled with her new social role as a wife and a mother. In 1931, Nevelson left to study in Munich under German painter Hans Hoffmann. She subsequently travelled to Italy and Paris, where she became particularly captivated by cubism as well as the African art she saw at the Musée de l´Homme, which she would later start collecting. After returning to New York, she again studied under Hoffmann while also assisting Diego Rivera, and soon thereafter began fully developing her own artistic career. In 1935, she featured in a group exhibition of young sculptors at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (Sculpture: A Group Exhibition by Young Sculptors). In September 1941, she had her first solo exhibition at New York’s Nierendorf Gallery; two years later, she took part in the exhibition Thirty-One-Woman, dedicated to women artists, which took place at the Art of This Century Gallery in New York. During the 1950s, Nevelson became an influential, highly respected figure on the US art scene, with her work being purchased by prestigious museums in the USA, such as the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1959, her work was included in the momentous exhibition Sixteen Americans, held at the Museum of Modern Art. During the 1960s, Nevelson received recognition in Europe, particularly following her presentation at the United States pavilion at the 32nd Venice Biennale in 1962 as well as her inclusion in the international exhibition documenta in Kassel in 1964 and 1968. In 1967, a major retrospective of Nevelson’s work was held at the Whitney Museum, consolidating her status on the contemporary art scene. Numerous retrospectives of international significance followed—the most recent, focused on Nevelson’s assemblages, took place in 2022 as part of the 59th Venice Biennale.
