Louise Nevelson
(1899 – 1988)
American Sculptor
“I never feel age. If you have creative work, you don’t have age or time.”
For decades, the American art world dominated by the myth of the hyper-masculine, super macho male artist as a hero. During the Abstract Expressionism movement (1943-1955) where there wasn’t much space for female artists since art critics were disdainful of their work and commercial art gallery froze them out.
Louise Nevelson took on the misogynist art world to became one America’s most prolific and famous sculptor. She’s credited with opening the discussion about the feminine in art even though she insisted that art reflects the individual and not the gender. [1] Nevelson did not have critical or commercial success until she was over 55. But she never stopped working.
Born in 1899 in central Ukraine, Nevelson moved to the USA in 1905. In 1918, she married Charles Nevelson and had her son Micheal in 1922. Unwilling to become a socialite wife, Nevelson separated from her husband in 1931 and left her son with her mother so she could study Europe. She returned to New York in 1932 and worked in a variety of mediums before settling on sculpture in the early 1940s.
In the 1950s, Nevelson sculptures evolved into large-scale monumental works as she began to assemble salvaged wood and other urban debris. She used a monochromatic color scheme to create an interplay of light and shadow that made the views regard the discarded objects with a new perspective. Nevelson broke the taboo suggesting only a man’s sculpture could be large.
During the 1960s and 1970s Nevelson expanded into plexiglass, aluminum and steel which allowed her to begin creating public art. At 61 she had her first solo show in Europe. At 63, her work was chosen for the 31st Venice Biennale. At 79 years old, New York City commissioned the Louise Nevelson Park. It became the first public space in New York City to be named after an artist.[1] Nevelson continued to create sculptures during the 1980s and returned to making prints.
She became the grand dame of the art world and her role in challenging the misogyny of the male-dominated art world paved the way for other female artists.
Nevelson became equally famous for her fashion style with her the iconic layers of mink false eyelashes, cigarillo on lips, extravagant headgear, chinchilla coat and chunky jewelry. Like her sculpture, her fashion was also an assemblage, a collage of the fabulous.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Nevelson_Plaza
Read more
https://louisenevelsonfoundation.org/gallery.html
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/nevelson-louise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Nevelson
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/following-your-heart-louise-nevelson-stacey-brody
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/louise-nevelsons-sculptures/https://readelysian.com/louise-nevelson/