Louise Nevelson
Ancient Landscape II (Ancient City)
1953-55

Name: Ancient Landscape II (Ancient City)
Brand: Louise Nevelson
Price: 6500 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Ancient Landscape II (Ancient City) Etching and drypoint, 1953-1955 Signed and titled in pencil by the artist; (see photo) Annotated: "E130 A/1" in pencil lower right Estate stamp verso Edition: 20 from the 1st edition printed by the artist Provenance: Estate of the Artist (Foundation stamp verso) Jeffrey Hoffeld (Estate agent) G. W. Einstein From the first edition printed by the artist at Atelier 17, New York, NY Reference: Baro 1 Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) Creator of wood assemblages made from found objects and parts of furniture doused in black paint, Louise Nevelson became the darling of the New York art world, especially during the last three decades of her life when her success was assured. She cultivated an artistic image, was thin and draped clothes haphazardly on her figure, smoked small cigars, and wore exceedingly long, fake eyelashes. She was born Louise Berliawsky in Kiev, Russia, and at age five, moved with her family to Rockland, Maine where her father ran a lumber yard. In a town that was mostly Protestant, middle class, white people, she felt out of place as a Jew and an immigrant. In 1920, she moved to New York, studied at the Art Students League with Kenneth Hayes Miller, and married Charles Nevelson, whose "WASP" family she regarded as terribly stuffy. They had a son, and when he was nine years old, she went to Munich to study, separating from her husband and leaving her son for several years with her parents. In Germany, she studied with Hans Hoffman until the Nazis drove him away, and then she studied in Paris before returning to America to raise her son and pursue her art career. From 1932 to 1933, she was in Mexico as an assistant to muralist Diego Rivera. In 1941, she had her first one-woman show, which was held at the Nierendorf Gallery in New York, but her break through did not come until 1957, when she began her box-like assemblages and received much critical acclaim. In 1959, Louise Nevelson was one of "Sixteen Americans" in an important Museum of Modern Art exhibition. In the mid 1960s, she began welding found objects to welded steel, and directed a team of workers to make her black painted sculptures. For her, the color black symbolized harmony and continuity. She also held several teaching positions including at the Educational Alliance in New York City; the Adult Education Program in Great Neck, New York; and at the New York School for the Deaf. Nevelson lived to age eighty nine, and was much pleased that her son, Mike, also became a successful sculptor. In 1976, she wrote her autobiography, Dawns and Dusks, in which she credited her own determination for her success. In recognition of that success, the U.S. government in 2000 issued special Louise Nevelson commemorative stamps, with five varieties, each with a photo of one of her monochrome sculptures. Courtesy: AskArt Sources include: Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, American Women Artists Marika Herskovic, American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s

Creator:

Louise Nevelson (1899 - 1988, American)

Creation Year:

1953-55

Dimensions:

Height: 13.63 in (34.63 cm)Width: 20.75 in (52.71 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

Abstract Expressionist

Period:

1950-1959

Condition:

Masking tape residue verso. In a note, Gil Einstein writes "Masking taped into mat (by Louise!)." Repaired tear right margin, not affecting image.

Gallery Location:

Fairlawn, OH

Reference Number:

Seller: FA57901stDibs: LU14014429422

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Shop All Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson was one of the leading American female sculptors of the 20th century, and she did it on her own terms. She was a pioneer of installation art and created large-scale monochromatic sculptures that are today known for their provocative, compartmentalized forms. While her assemblages involved a range of materials, she is best known for her wooden sculptures. Working in a single color was her signature, and all-encompassing color demanded an all-encompassing focus for this artist — she even kept separate studios for work in black, white and gold.

Nevelson was born in what is now Ukraine in 1899 and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1905. She moved to New York City as a young woman in 1920 to study at the Art Students League. In the 1930s, Nevelson traveled around Europe, came into contact with the works of Picasso, studied with Hans Hofmann and assisted Diego Rivera in New York City.

Nevelson had her first solo show in 1941 at the Nierendorf Gallery in New York. In the late 1940s, she studied with Stanley William Hayter and worked as a ceramicist in the workshop of revered furniture designer Vladimir Kagan, who let her take scraps from the factory to use in her sculptures. (As a child, Nevelson had also worked with discarded wood from her father's lumber yard.)

By the early 1950s, Nevelson had traveled to Guatemala and Mexico. She was inspired by pre-Columbian art and the totemic works of ancient cultures. Nevelson began creating the first of her iconic wood sculptures and later participated in the legendary “Sixteen Americans” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Her work was acquired by prominent institutions in the years that followed.

Nevelson made reliefs in shadow boxes and was for a time affiliated with New York City’s Sidney Janis Gallery as its first female Abstract Expressionist artist (her work was abstract but she also drew on the Cubist and Constructivist movements). In the early 1960s, Nevelson showed her art in Chicago, Manhattan, Paris and West Germany. It was around this time that she exhibited at Pace Gallery in Boston and New York. The gallery represented her for the duration of her career.

Nevelson died in 1988, but her legacy is immense. Her work is held in virtually every major American art museum, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art. Her permanent large-scale public sculptures are installed all over the country, including in Louise Nevelson Plaza in New York City's Financial District.

On 1stDibs, find original Louise Nevelson sculptures, prints and drawings.