Description
Born in Russia, Louise (Berliawsky) Nevelson emigrated to the U.S. with her family, settling in Rockland, Maine. Her father worked as a woodcutter, establishing wood as a consistent presence in her childhood and family home, which later became one of the prevalent materials used in her artwork. Moving to NYC in her late teens, Nevelson went on to study at the Art Student’s League, later with Hans Hoffman in Munich, and in the ’30s became an assistant to Diego Rivera. Nevelson’s recognition as a sculptress came during the 1950s with her constructions that evoked dramatic cityscapes–building boxes and walls from dismantled furniture and wood scraps found on the street and painting in a single color to emphasize the effects of light and shadow. Today Nevelson is known for her many site-specific, monochromatic installation artworks (in wood and steel) made of box-like structures and nested objects.
