Untitled
Louise Nevelson
LOUISE NEVELSON, 1932. GRAPHITE ON PAPER.
Louise Nevelson’s life was to be a tale of 20th Century immigration, steady progress through social classes, and a domestic life in leafy Mount Vernon, if it were not undone by her bravery and commitment to art. Emigrating from Ukraine as a child to the United States, and marrying into a wealthy family in her early 20s, she was expected to be a socialite wife and home-maker, educated on culture but not so bold as to assume she could create it herself. “Within that circle you could know Beethoven”, she said, “but god forbid you were Beethoven.” Yet she was gifted in a wide field of art, and had longed to be an artist since she was a child so, in 1930, at the age of 31, she separated from her husband, accepting no financial support, sold the diamond bracelet he had once given her as a gift, and returned to Europe alone to absorb the artistic culture of the day. Nevelson would go on to redefine American sculpture, but this small sketch on paper was painted during her time in Europe, its loose lines and relaxed feeling clearly informed by Matisse and Picasso. It is the fledgling work of an artist striking out on their own, still awaiting the medium that will call them, but confident in the strength of their character, and the necessity to speak out.