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Culture January 19, 2017
Sculptor Louise Nevelson wasn’t a feminist but she still broke glass ceilings for today’s female artists.
Working in a 1950’s art scene dominated by men, she found a way not only to fight the patriarchy but to show them up, inspiring women for decades to come.
Now women appear to be finally finding their voices in the art world. After all, research shows that more women than men tend to major in art, 51 percent of visual artists today are female, and women run 43 percent of American art museums. Who should they be thanking? None other than sculptor Louise Nevelson.
How did one woman leave a mark on art so large, she is still considered one of America’s most innovative sculptors decades after she passed away? ENTITY identifies five Louise Nevelson facts, proving she was a piece of art herself.
When you think of art, pieces of old wood and trash found in your neighborhood probably don’t initially come to mind. However, Nevelson immediately separated herself from other artists of the time by incorporating recycled wood into her creations. Using wooden objects found discarded around her city, she assembled unique sculptures that not only tell her story, but convey her strength as well. Her assemblages are massive yet intricate, industrial yet natural. Most are painted all black – arguably to convey power and unity – while others are painted all white, utilizing the natural shadows to give color and dimension to the wood.
READ MORE: Alternative Occupations for the Artist in You
Her artistic process was likely influenced by Marcel Duchamp’s found object sculptures and “readymades.” However, Nevelson wanted her materials to show more than just a recycling of found objects. As she wrote in her autobiography, “My theory is that when we come on this earth, many of us are ready-made. Some of us – most of us – have genes that are ready for certain performances. Nature gives you these gifts. Picasso was drawing like an angel in the crib. You’re born with it.”
Fun fact before I forget: Louise Nevelson sculpted in wood in direct response to her male peers using metal
— Income Bungalow (@grenadine) December 15, 2014
Born on this lovely day: Louise Nevelson, who turned scrap wood into exuberant landscapes and soaring structures full of music. pic.twitter.com/6KK1WeSHp5
— La La La Logan (@logandecker) September 23, 2016
Perhaps, then, Nevelson didn’t use found objects because they were different or convenient. She used them because she felt a similarity to them: like the wood, she was raw material striving to reach its full potential.
The myth of the tortured artist is quite well-known: for instance, Lennon and McCartney joined forces soon after their mothers died and Milton wrote Paradise Lost after losing his family and his sight. In some ways, Nevelson is another example of how artists turn pain into masterpieces.
“Art is everywhere, except it has to pass through a creative mind.” Louise Nevelson
— PadahArts (@PadahArts) January 7, 2017
She was born in Russia in 1899 to a Jewish family who had to relocate to the U.S. due to antisemitism. In America, she married, moved to New York, and had a son, but eventually left her family to study modern art in Munich in the 1930s. As many art critics have discovered, it’s nearly impossible to look at Nevelson’s art without seeing the woman behind it. Her choice of wood also has family ties: when her father first arrived in America, he worked as a woodcutter and junk collector. As an artist, Nevelson took these same materials and transformed the everyday into the amazing and new.
READ MORE: How Global Warming is Changing the Artistic Climate
With her monochromatic tones of black and white, she also explored a variety of themes in her own life. Besides its usual symbolism of black, for Nevelson, black also “encompasses other colors. There is no colour that will give you the feeling of totality. Of peace. Of greatness. Of quietness. Of excitement. I have seen things that were transformed into black, that took on just greatness. I don’t know a lesser word.”
Similarly, Nevelson also used white to explore the themes of love and marriage, such as in her work “Dawn’s Wedding Feast.” As one art critic explains, “Although, or perhaps because, Nevelson’s own marriage was not successful, the symbolism of marriage was important to her. In her sculpture, she brought together disparate and distinct entities to explore what remains and what changes through the alchemy of union.”
Just as she used found materials, Nevelson showed that artists could also find inspiration within their own lives – and transform even painful moments into gorgeous pieces of art.
Throughout most of history, large-scale, monumental art was only ever created by men – until Nevelson entered the picture, that is. As she once explained: “Women used to be afraid. Well I wasn’t afraid. I felt like a winner. I am a winner.” What exactly did she win? She proved that women have a place in great art with her huge, powerful and taboo-breaking sculptures. In fact her art was so influential, it is actually credited for sparking the discussion of women in art in the 1970s. Besides showing that women have the right to create large pieces of art, Nevelson also proved that women’s stories were just as valid sources for artistic inspiration as men’s.
“I am a woman of great action, I don’t sit and dream. I’d rather move a mountain.” – Louise Nevelson.
— Ariel H. Elwell (@ArielHElwell) January 9, 2015
@LeChased You know who was a cool artist? Louise Nevelson, 1899-1988. She broke some real ground as a woman in the male-dominated art world.
— Jim’s out of Bennies (@jesnider) January 29, 2016
“I’m not a feminist. I’m an artist who happens to be a woman.” Louise Nevelson, died OTD 1988. pic.twitter.com/lTDFB58UMj
— Jane Hoodless (@JaneHoodless) April 17, 2016
Despite her great influence on feminist art, Nevelson didn’t want to be known as a feminist artist or a woman artist: she just wanted to be an artist. Art reflects the artist as an individual, she explained, it shouldn’t have to reflect any “masculine-feminine labels.” At least in our opinion, Nevelson’s art is about as individualized as it could get. Her sculptures are huge, in your face, aggressive, and serious – reflections of the powerful artist that Louise Nevelson was.
READ MORE: 5 Female Artists in the Shade of Their Well Known Husbands
So what are aspects of Nevelson that you won’t be able to find on a Google search? ENTITY spoke with environmental artist Alan Sonfist, who was a friend and neighbor ofLouise Nevelson in New York, for a few tidbits of “insider information” about this famous sculptor.
A photo posted by Sargent’s Daughters (@sargentsdaughters) on
According to Sonfist, Louise was direct, honest, no nonsense and important. In fact, when Sonfist first moved to the city, he shared his worries about the Mafia to Nevelson. Her response? “Don’t worry, I know them all. I’ll introduce you.” She then proceeded to arrange a dinner party with Sonfist and members of the mob. Nevelson showed up late to her own party, declared, “Alan’s a good artist; leave him alone,” and left. Sonfist was never bothered by the Mafia. Whether that was directly because of Nevelson’s blunt intervention is for you to decide!
One of the quotes Nevelson is best known for is: “True strength is delicate.” When asked what he thought she meant, Sonfist said, “True strength is open and honest, like Louise, and it relies on a kind of balance and careful composition, like her assemblages do.”
For Sonfist, Nevelson’s art isn’t monumental because of its size. Instead, her pieces impacted viewers because she found a way to express herself so uniquely. Using recycled objects in her sculptures was way ahead of her time, and as an environmental artist, Alan especially admires this element of Nevelson’s work.
READ MORE: Cindy Sherman: Feminist or Female Artist?
Nevelson also wasn’t afraid to follow her own, unique direction in life, which takes a great deal of strength. As Sonfist points out, many women of Nevelson’s time wouldn’t have even considered leaving their husband and child to study art in Europe. However, Nevelson knew that art was her calling in life, so she made that hard decision. Perhaps even more remarkable, Nevelson had bigger dreams for her art than just showing her talents: according to Sonfist, “I’m trying to heal the land through my art. She wanted to heal people.”
Although improvements on women’s place in art still need to be made today, it’s impossible to deny how far female artists have come since the 1950s. It’s also impossible to deny that women like Louise Nevelson helped pave the way for contemporary female artists.
Throughout her life, Nevelson proved that women’s art has the right to take up space, use unique materials and convey the artist’s personal story. And, even in death, Nevelson remains one of America’s greatest sculptors – female or not!
