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Catalog Data

Artist:
Arnold A. Newman, 3 Mar 1918 - 6 Jun 2006  Search this
Sitter:
Louise Nevelson, 23 Sep 1899 - 17 Apr 1988  Search this
Medium:
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
Image: 30.8 x 25cm (12 1/8 x 9 13/16")
Sheet: 35.2 x 27.5cm (13 7/8 x 10 13/16")
Mat: 45.8 × 35.5 cm (18 1/16 × 14")
Type:
Photograph
Place:
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Date:
1972
Exhibition Label:
In the early 1930s, Louise Nevelson liberated herself from traditional domestic life, which she found stifling, and devoted herself to art. She attracted little notice until the 1960s, when the significance and originality of her work finally gained recognition. Using cast-off scraps of wood and other debris foraged from the streets of New York City, she constructed abstract wall sculptures and free-standing pieces that gave new meaning to abandoned and undervalued objects. “I join the shattered world, creating a new harmony,” Nevelson observed. Though rooted in feminine experience, her powerful, monumental, monochromatic sculptures challenged assumptions about the inherent delicacy of “women’s art.”
This photograph, by Arnold Newman, wittily pays homage to Nevelson’s approach by superimposing the torn scrap of one photograph over another. The resulting collage doubles the sculptor’s skillful hands and creates the illusion that she is organically conjoined with the sculpture she is creating.
A principios de la década de 1930, Louise Nevelson se liberó de la vida doméstica tradicional, que encontraba sofocante, y se dedicó al arte. No recibió gran atención hasta los años sesenta, cuando por fin se reconoció la importancia y originalidad de su obra. Con desechos de madera y otros materiales que encontraba en las calles de Nueva York, construyó esculturas abstractas tanto de pared como autónomas, dando nuevos significados a aquellos objetos subestimados. “Junto los pedazos del mundo roto y creo nuevas armonías”, observó Nevelson. Aunque enraizadas en la experiencia femenina, sus poderosas esculturas monocromáticas y monumentales impugnaron la idea preconcebida de la delicadeza inherente al “arte femenino”.
Esta ingeniosa fotografía de Arnold Newman rinde homenaje al estilo de Nevelson superponiendo a una foto un fragmento arrancado de otra. El collage resultante duplica las hábiles manos de la escultora, dando la ilusión de que está orgánicamente unida a la escultura que está creando.
Topic:
Interior  Search this
Costume\Headgear\Hat  Search this
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table  Search this
Artwork  Search this
Equipment\Smoking Implements\Cigarette  Search this
Louise Nevelson: Visual Arts\Artist  Search this
Louise Nevelson: Female  Search this
Louise Nevelson: Visual Arts\Artist\Sculptor  Search this
Louise Nevelson: Visual Arts\Art instructor  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Arnold Newman
Object number:
NPG.91.89.55
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Arnold Newman
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4011d8418-148c-42f6-8031-3911116cceaf
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.91.89.55