Nevelson loved New York, describing the city as "my mirror." This sculpture composed of more than one hundred seemingly disparate but interconnected objects absorbs and emanates her spirit and that of her adopted home. Her largest work, it took thirteen years to complete and was unveiled on her eightieth birthday. The charismatic Nevelson is the "Mrs. N" of the title, the monarch of this massive structure that is both environment and monument, recalling grand memorials and tombs as well as intimate, private spaces. Nevelson was captivated by the beauty she found in discarded materials and urban detritus, tenderly composing, layering, and painting her "found objects" until they shed their skin, reborn as art. Here, it is forgotten things found by chance that together make up the whole—perhaps a metaphor for the city, even for life.
New York. Pace Gallery. "Louise Nevelson: Mrs. N's Palace," November 26, 1977—January 2, 1978.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Louise Nevelson: Atmospheres and Environments," May 27–September 14, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 191; lent by the Pace Gallery, New York).
Charleston. Gibbes Museum of Art. "Spoleto Festival U.S.A.," May 20–September 15, 1983, no catalogue.
Jewish Museum, New York. "The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend," May 5–September 16, 2007, unnumbered cat. (p. 139).
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend," October 27, 2007–January 13, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Hilton Kramer. "Art: A Nevelson Made to Last." New York Times (December 9, 1977), p. C17, ill.
Hilton Kramer. "Art View: Nevelson's Dazzling Feats." New York Times (May 11, 1980), p. D31.
Grace Glueck. "Art: Whitney Turns Into Nevelson Land." New York Times (June 6, 1980), p. C19.
Diana Morris. "Nevelson: Giving Shape to the Collective Unconscious." Women Artists News 6 (Summer 1980), pp. 2–3.
Edward Albee. "Edward Albee on Louise Nevelson: 'The World is Beginning to Resemble Her Art'." Art News 79 (May 1980), pp. 100–101, ill.
Katya Bloom. "Spoleto Festival." Art Papers 7 (September–October 1983), p. 23.
Douglas C. McGill. "Louise Nevelson Giving 25 Works to Museums." New York Times (March 18, 1985), p. C17, ill. (detail).
Lisa M. Messinger in "Twentieth Century Art." Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1985–1986. New York, 1986, p. 66, ill.
Kay Larson. "The Met Goes Modern: Bill Lieberman's Brave New Wing." New York Magazine 19 (December 15, 1986), p. 46.
Michael Brenson. "Large Spaces, Large Questions at The Met." New York Times (March 15, 1987), p. 36.
Matt Damsker. "The Met Goes Modern: New Wing a Treasure Box, Even If Collection Has Gaps." Hartford Courant (February 11, 1987), p. C7.
Theodore F. Wolff. "Metropolitan Museum of Art: Big Lift from a New Wing." Christian Science Monitor (February 2, 1987), ill. p. 25 (installation view).
Kathie Beals. "The Met Goes Modern with New 20th-century Wing." Courier-News (February 17, 1987), p. B-5.
Roger Bevan. "Exhibition Reviews: The Metropolitan Museum: A New Wing for Modern Art." Apollo 127 (January 1988), p. 41, ill. (installation view).
Brooke Kamin Rapaport, ed. The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New York, 2007, pp. 23–25, 185–86, ill. p. 139 (color).
"A Life Made Out of Wood, Metal and Determination." New York Times (May 9, 2007), p. E2, ill.
Jenni Sorkin. "Louise Nevelson. The Jewish Museum." Modern Painters (September 2007), pp. 92–93, ill.
Harry Jacob Weil. "Louise Nevelson. Jewish Museum, New York NY." ArtUS no. 19 (Summer 2007), pp. 54–55, ill. (color).
David Anfam. "Louise Nevelson: Jewish Museum, New York." Artforum 46 (October 2007), p. 366, ill.
Johanna Ruth Epstein. "'The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson': The Jewish Museum." Art News 106 (Summer 2007), p. 190, ill.
"A Star is Born." Modern Painters 19 (June 2007), p. 38.
Mona Hadler. "Review. The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend." Woman's Art Journal 29 (Spring–Summer 2008), pp. 57–58.
Carol Diehl. "The World of Mrs. N." Art in America 96 (January 2008), pp. 110–11, ill. (color).
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, p. 8, ill. p. 120 (color).
Louise Nevelson (American (born Ukraine), Kiev 1899–1988 New York)
1975
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