I began to see things, almost anything along the street as art. . . that’s why I pick up old wood that had a life, that cars have gone over and the nails have been
crushed. . . All [my] objects are retranslated—that’s the magic.
—Louise Nevelson
Louise Nevelson was born in 1899 in present-day Ukraine. Her family left for the United States in 1905 to escape the pogroms, sanctioned anti-Jewish riots that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of Jews in what was then the Russian Empire. Nevelson pursued art from an early age. After separating from her husband and settling in New York City in the 1930s, she was able to fully devote herself to art. By the 1950s she had developed her signature monumental wood constructions.
Inspired by the ancient art and architecture of Mexico and Central America and by Nevelson’s affinity for myth and legend, Sky Presence I contains veiled references to the artist’s private life and inner thoughts. Although the sculpture may embody her recurring themes of royalty, marriage, and death, its essential mystery remains intact.
Louise Nevelson (American,1899–1988), Sky Presence 1. Wood and black paint, July 1961. 116 3/8 × 244 1/4 × 8 1/4 in. (295.5 × 620.4 ×21 cm). Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1986.22a–y.
Image Description: A large, abstract wood sculpture set against a wall and made up of multiple rectangular boxes fitted together, their openings facing outward. Some are oriented horizontally and some vertically. Each box contains carefully composed collections of wooden scraps and objects arranged to create rhythms and balances of shape, texture, and shadow. The entire sculpture is painted black, unifying the composition.
