1899-1988
American sculptor Louise Nevelson was born in Perislav, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire. Nevelson’s career in the world of art emerged amongst the Abstract Expressionist movement. In 1929, she went to art classes at the Art Students League of New York after emigrating in the early twentieth century. She made use of wooden objects discovered within piles of debris in urban areas to create giant installations, demonstrating a clear influence by Marcel Duchamp.
Her life experiences inspired the themes; from her Jewish childhood to her relocation to America from Russia, her experiences as a new artist in New York and also as a successful, working German woman; which led to her prominence in the Feminist art world. Her busiest time was during the 1950s, when she exhibited her work as frequently and as widely as possible. In her later career, she experimented with a variety of new media, including woodcuts, aluminium, metal and plastic.
