Louise Nevelson

Art is Life

Laurie Wilson

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9780500773734
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Artist Biographies

Louise Nevelson (18991988) was, with Calder, Noguchi and David Smith, one of the great American sculptors of the 20th century. She created extraordinary work, from room-size installations composed of boxes to gnarled and majestic steel structures. Her life story is no less interesting. She was born in czarist Russia, but her family emigrated to the States and she grew up in Maine. Nevelson endured a repressive marriage to a New York millionaire, whom she escaped to pursue the life of an artist. She gained recognition as an abstract sculptor at the age of 59, and spent the next 30 years taking the art world by storm, becoming a colourful New York personality and minor celebrity.

Laurie Wilson, who knew Nevelson personally, draws extensively on her own research in this crisp new biography. She conducted interviews not just with Nevelson but with her siblings, son, and gallery owner Arne Glimcher. Wilson has also had complete access to Glimchers archives, Nevelsons personal assistant, Diana Mackown, and Lippincott studios, where much of Nevelsons work was cast, among others.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• About the Author
• Other titles of interest
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Russian Roots   1899 – 1905
• 2. Rockland Childhood   1905 – 1918
• 3. Marriage and Motherhood   1920 – 1929
• 4. Art at Last   1929 – 1934
• 5. The Beginning of Sculpture   1934 – 1940
• 6. Surrealism   1940 – 1946
• 7. Death and Restoration   1946 – 1953
• 8. A Forgotten Village   1954 – 1957
• 9. Moon Garden Breakthrough   1957 – 1960
• 10. Glittering Glory   1960 – 1962
• 11. Icarus   1962 – 1963
• 12. Architect of Reflection   1964 – 1966
• 13. Empress of the Environment   1966 – 1968
• 14. Mistress of Transformation   1969 – 1971
• 15. La Signora of Spring Street   1972 – 1974
• 16. Large Scale   1975 – 1976
• 17. “The Nevelson”   1967 – 1988
• 18. The Chapel and the Palace   1977 – 1979
• 19. A Big Birthday   1980 – 1985
• 20. The End   1985 – 1988
• Epilogue
• Endnotes
• Selected Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Copyright