Now until July 21, 2013, at the Palazzo Sciarra in Rome, you can see the retrospective exhibition Louise Nevelson dedicated to the American sculptor of Russian origin, Louise Berliawsky Nevelson (1899 – 1988).
One of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century, some critics recognizing her as the greatest living sculptor, Nevelson is an original avant-garde artist. Her sculptures, inspired by Cubism, some which are monumental in scale, used everyday found objects and discarded scraps to construct forms, not unlike other artists such as Duchamp, Picasso and Schwitters. Nevelson studied at the Art Student’s League in NYC starting in 1929. She was a student of Hans Hoffman who encouraged her to use a limited palette. She was also friends with Diego Rivera and became influenced by Latin American art.
Nevelson blurred the boundaries between sculpture, collage, and relief. Her preferred material was no doubt wood and she collected and recycled discarded scraps, building new elaborate forms and compositions. This type of adaptation by artists has been done for ages, but was most likely heightened during World War II which pulled many European artists together while escaping war.
She even made a few pieces of jewelry that seem to translate very easily from her sculptural constructions of parts down to a small scale. In fact seeing some images of her work, it can be hard to decipher the actual size. Nevelson’s personal style was dramatic and adorned with fake eyelashes, bright scarves, and a cigar in hand, so the addition of her own jewelry surely completed her look.
In this exhibition, over 70 works illustrate the artist’s creative process beginning with drawings and terra-cotta pieces produced in the 1930s to assemblages of painted wood from the 1950s where monochrome applications introduced symbolic function going from matte black (1955-59), to white (1959-60), gold (1960-61). The exhibition continues with masterpieces from the decades extending Nevelson’s life through to the 1980s.
Louise Nevelson
April 16 > July 21, 2013
Museo Fondazione Roma – Palazzo Sciarra
Via Marco Minghetti, 22 – Rome
T +39 06 697645599
www.louisenevelsonroma.it
www.fondazioneromamuseo.it
Open daily 10 am – 8 pm
The ticket office closes at 7 pm
Open as normal on the following bank holidays: June 2 and June 29
TICKETS € 10 > Free tickets every first weekend of the month (July 6-7)
