The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988). Detail: Dawn’s Forest, 1986. Painted balsa-plywood. Collection of Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum. 2010.7 Gift of GA-Met, a joint venture Georgia-Pacific LLC.
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988). Detail: Dawn’s Forest, 1986. Painted balsa-plywood. Collection of Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum. 2010.7 Gift of GA-Met, a joint venture Georgia-Pacific LLC.
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988). Detail: Dawn’s Forest, 1986. Painted balsa-plywood. Collection of Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum. 2010.7 Gift of GA-Met, a joint venture Georgia-Pacific LLC.
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988). Detail: Dawn’s Forest, 1986. Painted balsa-plywood. Collection of Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum. 2010.7 Gift of GA-Met, a joint venture Georgia-Pacific LLC.
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988). Detail: Dawn’s Forest, 1986. Painted balsa-plywood. Collection of Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum. 2010.7 Gift of GA-Met, a joint venture Georgia-Pacific LLC.
September 5, 2015 — June 2, 2018
Dawn’s Forest is Louise Nevelson’s largest, most complex environmental sculpture and her last major work.
Created in the artist’s signature assemblage style, the monumental sculpture is made of various white-painted abstract wood elements. The work’s monochromatic color gives a sense of unity to its disparate objects, the white finish suggestive of the untainted possibilities that dawn brings to each day. The tree-like standing columns, as tall as 25 feet, and vertical hanging pieces all underscore the forest-like atmosphere, allowing the viewer to walk under the “trees” as well as through them.
Nevelson worked on Dawn’s Forest for more than a year, completing it in the spring of 1986. It is unusual among her environmental sculptures because of its size and its color; most of her other large works were painted black. Commissioned by Georgia-Pacific and MetLife, Dawn’s Forest was displayed at the Georgia-Pacific Center in Atlanta from 1986 until 2010. It was gifted to The Baker Museum in 2010.
Born in Kiev, Russia in 1899, Louise Nevelson immigrated to the United States in 1905. She grew up in Rockland, Maine and later moved to New York City, where she lived most of her life. After a brief marriage and the birth of a son, Nevelson went to Munich to study art with Hans Hofmann. She returned to New York in 1932 and fully committed herself to her art.
Nevelson is widely recognized as one of the preeminent American artists of the last half of the 20th century. A pioneer of installation art, she struggled for decades in near-obscurity before winning widespread recognition in her 60s. By the late 1970s, ARTnews proclaimed “Louise Nevelson’s name is probably recognized more than that of any other American artist.”
This installation is organized by Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum, and is generously underwritten by Waterside Shops.
El conjunto escultural Dawn’s Forest (Bosque del amanecer) es el mayor y más complejo de los realizados por la artista Louise Nevelson.
Representativo de su práctica de ensamblaje, el conjunto se compone de varios elementos abstractos de madera barnizada en blanco. La monocromía de la pieza confiere a las diferentes partes del conjunto un sentido de unidad. El acabado claro, por otro lado, evoca las ilimitadas posibilidades que la aurora descubre cada día. Alcanzando 25 pies de altura, las columnas arbóreas y los elementos colgantes aluden a una atmósfera boscosa, permitiendo al espectador deambular bajo los “arboles”, así como a través de ellos.
Nevelson trabajó en Bosque del amanecer durante más de un año, completando el conjunto en 1986. Su tamaño y su color destacan la composición entre otras esculturas ‘ambientales’ de la artista, usualmente pintadas de negro. Encargada por Georgia Pacific y MetLife, Bosque del amanecer se expuso en el Centro Georgia Pacific, en Atlanta, entre 1986 y 2010. En 2010, se donó al Museo de Arte de Naples.
Nacida en Kiev, Rusia, en 1899, Louise Nevelson emigró a Estados Unidos en 1905. Creció en Rockland, Maine, y más tarde se mudó a Nueva York, donde vivió buena parte de su vida. Tras un matrimonio fugaz, y el nacimiento de su hijo, Nevelson se instaló en Munich para estudiar con Hans Hofmann. En 1932, retornó a Nueva York y se dedicó por completo a su carrera artística.
Nevelson es conocida como una de las artistas norteamericanas más prominentes del siglo XX. Pionera del arte de instalación, pasó décadas trabajando en el anonimato antes de alcanzar un amplio reconocimiento, a los sesenta años. Hacia el final de la década de 1970, ARTnews declaró: “El nombre de Louise Nevelson es, probablemente, más conocido que el de cualquier otra artista estadounidense”.
Esta exposición ha sido organizada por Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum, con el patrocinio de Waterside Shops.