Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures.

Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine), she emigrated with her family to the United States in the early 20th century.

[6] Nevelson's first experience of art was at the age of nine at the Rockland Public Library, where she saw a plaster cast of Joan of Arc.

Bernard introduced her to his brother, and Charles and Louise Nevelson were married in June 1920 in a Jewish wedding at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston.

Having satisfied her parents' hope that she would marry into a wealthy family, she and her new husband moved to New York City,[11] where she began to study painting, drawing, singing, acting, and dancing.

Nevelson continued to experiment with other artistic mediums, including lithography and etching, but decided to focus on sculpture.

In 1935, she taught mural painting at the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in Brooklyn as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

[15] In the 1940s, she began producing Cubist figure studies in materials such as stone, bronze, terra cotta, and wood.

In 1943, she had a show at Norlyst Gallery called The Clown as the Center of his World in which she constructed sculptures about the circus from found objects.

[4] Despite poor reception, Nevelson's works at this time explored both figurative abstracts inspired by Cubism[13] and the exploitative and experimental influence of surrealism.

The decade provided Nevelson with the materials, movements, and self-created experiments that would mold her signature modernist style in the 1950s.

She began teaching sculpture classes in adult education programs in the Great Neck public school system.

[17] In 1955, Nevelson joined Colette Roberts' Grand Central Modern Gallery, where she had numerous one-woman shows.

After an unsuccessful first show in which none of her work sold, Nevelson had a falling out with gallery owner Janis over sums he advanced her and was unable to recoup.

In 1967 the Whitney Museum hosted the first retrospective of Nevelson's work, showing over one hundred pieces, including drawings from the 1930s and contemporary sculptures.

Black Zag X from 1969, in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art is an example of the artist's all-black assemblages incorporating the plastic Formica.

[4] When asked about her role as a Jewish artist creating Christian-themed art, Nevelson stated that her abstract work transcended religious barriers.

[24] Also in 1975, she created and installed a large wood sculpture titled Bicentennial Dawn at the new James A. Byrne United States Courthouse in Philadelphia.

[27][28] During the last half of her life, Nevelson solidified her fame and her persona by cultivating a style for her "petite yet flamboyant" self[29] that contributed to her legacy: dramatic dresses, scarves and large false eyelashes.

[20] Nevelson's most notable sculptures are her wooden, wall-like, collage-driven reliefs consisting of multiple boxes and compartments that hold abstract shapes and found objects from chair legs to balusters.

Nevelson researched the Noh robes and the gold coin collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for inspiration.

[49] Having undergone significant alterations since its inception, including a complete redesign of the plaza in 2007–2010, it is now managed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

[7] In December 1978, Nevelson dedicated another public sculpture in the Lower Manhattan; titled Sky Gate, New York it was installed in the mezzanine lobby of 1 World Trade Center on the opposite site of Financial District.

[4] The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine houses the second largest collection of her works, including jewelry she designed.

[10] In 2000, the United States Postal Service released a series of commemorative postage stamps in Nevelson's honor.

[6] Nevelson is listed on the Heritage Floor, among other famous women, in Judy Chicago's 1974–1979 masterpiece The Dinner Party.

Documentation showed that Nevelson had bequeathed these works (worth millions) to her friend and assistant of 25 years, Diana MacKown.

Its mission is to educate the public and celebrate the life and work of Louise Nevelson, thus furthering her legacy and place in American Art History.

A reviewer of her 1941 exhibition at Nierendorf Gallery stated: "We learned the artist is a woman in time to check our enthusiasm.

You'll deny both these facts and you might even insist Nevelson is a man, when you see her Portraits in Paint, showing this month at the Nierendorf Gallery.