Beverly Pepper Sculptures

Beverly Pepper Untitled, circa 1965-1970 Stamped: BP Steel and Enamel paint 11.75 x 8 x 3.75 inches A formidable opponent of the status quo, Beverly Pepper took on industrial sculpture at a time when many women were unfamiliar with how to operate power tools. Born in Brooklyn in 1922 to the children of Jewish immigrants, Pepper was never told that there would be roadblocks in her future simply because of her gender. Her mother never imposed the idea of necessary femininity on her daughter, so it likely came as a shock to the young artist when she was removed from an industrial design course during her first year at Pratt University at 16 years old because the school decided that she was not capable of operating machinery as a woman. Despite this hiccup, the exposure to the course while she was enrolled sparked a lifelong interest in the industrial arts that would resurface later in life. From there, Pepper turned to painting and went on to study at L’Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, where artists like Giacometti, Modigliani, and others had studied. During this time, Pepper met and married her husband Curtis Bill Pepper, moving to Italy for his work in the 1950’s. She settled with her family in the country, where she maintained a studio in Umbria until her death. It was not until 1960 that Pepper shifted her focus to sculpture after a visit to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, forever moved by the relationship between temple ruins and the accompanying overgrowth from the surrounding jungle. She debuted her sculpture with an exhibition of carved tree trunks in Rome two years later, and soon after was invited to participate in a festival in Spoleto – the only catch being that she was asked to provide works on metal, and she did not know how to weld. Convincing a local ironmaker to teach her how to weld, she produced works for the Spoleto show and was one of only three women that were exhibited alongside great sculptors like Alexander Calder and Henry Moore. After that show, she was invited to work in a factory in Northern Italy and never looked back, finding the factory an ideal place to create the large scale sculptures she is so well known for today. This venue of choice, the factory, was quite a boys club – Pepper was the only female in the building much of the time, and frequently had to use the men’s restroom as there were none designated for women. While working at a US Steel factory in Pennsylvania, the company suggested she try out their new material: Cor-Ten steel. Pepper asserts that she was likely the first artist to work with the material, one that became a favorite in her own sculptures. Her studio in Italy was a converted aircraft hangar...

Beverly Pepper is an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remains independent from any particular art movement. She was married to the writer Curtis Bill Pepper. Pepper was born Beverly Stoll on December 20, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. At sixteen, she entered the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York to study advertising design, photography, and industrial design. She then embarked on a career as a commercial art director. She studied at Art Students' League and attended night classes at Brooklyn College, including art theory with György Kepes, who introduced her to the work of Lasló Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray. It was also at this time, in her mid twenties, that she met the environmental artist Frederick Kiesler. Drawn to post-war Europe in 1949, she studied painting in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. There she attended classes with cubist painter André L'Hôte, and with Fernand Léger at his atelier. She also visited the studios of Ossip Zadkine and Brâncuși. Pepper began her career as a painter, but after a trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia in 1960, she was so awed by the temple ruins surviving beneath the jungle growth that she turned to sculpture. She made her debut in 1962 with an exhibit of carved tree trunks at a gallery in Rome. After several exhibitions in New York and Rome, she was one of ten artists invited by Giovanni Carandente, along with David Smith, Alexander Calder, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Lynn Chadwick, and Pietro Consagra, to fabricate works in Italsider factories in Italy for an outdoor exhibition, "Sculture nella città", held in Spoleto during the summer of 1962. Beverly Pepper has had a long and extraordinary career. Like her contemporaries Louise Bourgeois and Louise Nevelson, Pepper forged a unique path as a mid-century feminist artist. As the 1960s progressed, Pepper turned to polished stainless steel. In some of the first works, she used a torch to carve used one-inch thick elements of stainless steel. From there, her pieces evolved into highly polished stainless with painted interiors. She was, in fact, one of the first artists, if not the first, to incorporate Cor-Ten steel into sculpture. Beginning in the 1970s, and to the present day, she has lived a bi-continental life traveling between Europe and the United States. Western Washington University outdoor sculpture collection. The collection has some pieces which qualify as "land art" including Alice Aycock's 1987 "The Islands of the Rose Apple Tree Surrounded by the Oceans of the Word, for You, Oh My Darling," and Nancy Holt...

Beverly Stoll Pepper (American, b. 1924 ) Incised signature, date, and inscription "Beverly Pepper '70 Welded and brushed steel, approximately 25 x 78 1/2 x 8 in. (63.5 x 199.4 x 20.3 cm). Provenance: Purchased from Obelisk Gallery, Boston; Collection of Melvin B. Nessel, Boston, MA. It can lay on the floor or hang on the wall. the long flat side i believe goes up as in the second picture. Beverly Pepper is an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remains independent from any particular art movement. She was married to the writer Curtis Bill Pepper. Pepper was born Beverly Stoll on December 20, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. At sixteen, she entered the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York to study advertising design, photography, and industrial design. She then embarked on a career as a commercial art director. She studied at Art Students' League and attended night classes at Brooklyn College, including art theory with György Kepes, who introduced her to the work of Lasló Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray. It was also at this time, in her mid twenties, that she met the environmental artist Frederick Kiesler. Drawn to post-war Europe in 1949, she studied painting in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. There she attended classes with cubist painter André L'Hôte, and with Fernand Léger at his atelier. She also visited the studios of Ossip Zadkine and Brâncuși. Pepper began her career as a painter, but after a trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia in 1960, she was so awed by the temple ruins surviving beneath the jungle growth that she turned to sculpture. She made her debut in 1962 with an exhibit of carved tree trunks at a gallery in Rome. After several exhibitions in New York and Rome, she was one of ten artists invited by Giovanni Carandente, along with David Smith, Alexander Calder, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Lynn Chadwick, and Pietro Consagra, to fabricate works in Italsider factories in Italy for an outdoor exhibition, "Sculture nella città", held in Spoleto during the summer of 1962. As the 1960s progressed, Pepper turned to polished stainless steel. In some of the first works, she used a torch to carve used one-inch thick elements of stainless steel. From there, her pieces evolved into highly polished stainless with painted interiors. She was, in fact, one of the first artists, if not the first, to incorporate Cor-Ten steel into sculpture.Beginning in the 1970s, and to the present day, she has lived a bi-continental life traveling between Europe and the United States. Western Washington University outdoor sculpture collection. The collection has some pieces which qualify as "land art" including Alice Aycock's 1987 "The Islands of the Rose Apple Tree Surrounded by the Oceans of the Word, for You, Oh My Darling," and Nancy Holt...

signed BP in chrome. Beverly Pepper is an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remains independent from any particular art movement. She was married to the writer Curtis Bill Pepper. Pepper was born Beverly Stoll on December 20, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. At sixteen, she entered the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York to study advertising design, photography, and industrial design. She then embarked on a career as a commercial art director. She studied at Art Students' League and attended night classes at Brooklyn College, including art theory with György Kepes, who introduced her to the work of Lasló Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray. It was also at this time, in her mid twenties, that she met the environmental artist Frederick Kiesler. Drawn to post-war Europe in 1949, she studied painting in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. There she attended classes with cubist painter André L'Hôte, and with Fernand Léger at his atelier. She also visited the studios of Ossip Zadkine and Brâncuși. Pepper began her career as a painter, but after a trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia in 1960, she was so awed by the temple ruins surviving beneath the jungle growth that she turned to sculpture. She made her debut in 1962 with an exhibit of carved tree trunks at a gallery in Rome. After several exhibitions in New York and Rome, she was one of ten artists invited by Giovanni Carandente, along with David Smith, Alexander Calder, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Lynn Chadwick, and Pietro Consagra, to fabricate works in Italsider factories in Italy for an outdoor exhibition, "Sculture nella città", held in Spoleto during the summer of 1962. As the 1960s progressed, Pepper turned to polished stainless steel. In some of the first works, she used a torch to carve used one-inch thick elements of stainless steel. From there, her pieces evolved into highly polished stainless with painted interiors. She was, in fact, one of the first artists, if not the first, to incorporate Cor-Ten steel into sculpture.Beginning in the 1970s, and to the present day, she has lived a bi-continental life traveling between Europe and the United States. Exhibitions and collected Pepper's works have been exhibited and collected by major museums and galleries throughout the world, including: deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York The White House Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California Denver Art Museum, Colorado Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio The Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France Les Jardins du Palais Royal, Paris, France Palazzo degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy Forte Belvedere, Florence, Italy The Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria The Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona, Spain The Wohl Rose Garden, Jerusalem, Israel The Contemporary Sculpture Center, Tokyo, Japan The Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan Europarkas Sculpture Park, Vilnius, Lithuania The Bradley Foundation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Gori Collection, Pistoia, Italy Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas The City of Todi, Italy Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museu d'Art Contemporari de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Casal Solleric, Majorca, Spain Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, Missouri The Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Washington Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, Trenton, New Jersey Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey Recognition Throughout the years, she has received several awards, including: Doctor of Fine Arts, Alumni Achievement Award and the Legends Award, from the Pratt Institute; Doctor of Fine Arts, The Maryland Institute; Accademico di Merito, University of Perugia; Cittadinanza Onoraria, Todi, Italy: Amic de Barcelona, city of Barcelona, Spain; Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France and The Alexander Calder Prize. Pepper along with Nancy...