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Louise Nevelson

American, 1899-1988

Louise Nevelson was one of the leading American female sculptors of the 20th century, and she did it on her own terms. She was a pioneer of installation art and created large-scale monochromatic sculptures that are today known for their provocative, compartmentalized forms. While her assemblages involved a range of materials, she is best known for her wooden sculptures. Working in a single color was her signature, and all-encompassing color demanded an all-encompassing focus for this artist — she even kept separate studios for work in black, white and gold. 

Nevelson was born in what is now Ukraine in 1899 and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1905. She moved to New York City as a young woman in 1920 to study at the Art Students League. In the 1930s, Nevelson traveled around Europe, came into contact with the works of Picasso, studied with Hans Hofmann and assisted Diego Rivera in New York City. 

Nevelson had her first solo show in 1941 at the Nierendorf Gallery in New York. In the late 1940s, she studied with Stanley William Hayter and worked as a ceramicist in the workshop of revered furniture designer Vladimir Kagan, who let her take scraps from the factory to use in her sculptures. (As a child, Nevelson had also worked with discarded wood from her father's lumber yard.)

By the early 1950s, Nevelson had traveled to Guatemala and Mexico. She was inspired by pre-Columbian art and the totemic works of ancient cultures. Nevelson began creating the first of her iconic wood sculptures and later participated in the legendary “Sixteen Americans” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Her work was acquired by prominent institutions in the years that followed. 

Nevelson made reliefs in shadow boxes and was for a time affiliated with New York City’s Sidney Janis Gallery as its first female Abstract Expressionist artist (her work was abstract but she also drew on the Cubist and Constructivist movements). In the early 1960s, Nevelson showed her art in Chicago, Manhattan, Paris and West Germany. It was around this time that she exhibited at Pace Gallery in Boston and New York. The gallery represented her for the duration of her career.

Nevelson died in 1988, but her legacy is immense. Her work is held in virtually every major American art museum, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art. Her permanent large-scale public sculptures are installed all over the country, including in Louise Nevelson Plaza in New York City's Financial District.

On 1stDibs, find original Louise Nevelson sculptures, prints and drawings.

Average Sold Price
$4,220
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Bicentennial Dawn Lithograph and gold foil, Louise Nevelson sculpture signed/N
By Louise Nevelson
Located in New York, NY
Louise Nevelson Bicentennial Dawn, 1976 Photolithograph, silkscreen and gold foil on white wove paper hand signed, dated and numbered 15/100 with incised signature on the front 35 × ...
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1970s Abstract Louise Nevelson

Materials

Foil

Male Nude
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) stands as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. She is renowned for her monochromatic sculptural wooden constructions. However it is imp...
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1930s Modern Louise Nevelson

Materials

Ink, Pencil, Paper

Tropical Leaf
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
As always, Caviar20 is thrilled to present the esteemed work of Louise Nevelson - one of the most revered and unique artists of the 20th century. Although Nevelson is best known f...
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1970s Abstract Louise Nevelson

Materials

Woodcut

Untitled (Gold) & Untitled (White)
By Louise Nevelson
Located in New York, NY
Two color screenprints printed on black wove paper, both very good impressions with strong colors. Both signed, dated and numbered 6/14 and 2/20 in pencil.
Category

1970s Modern Louise Nevelson

Materials

Color, Screen

Geometric Abstract Silkscreen by Louise Nevelson
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Louise Nevelson, Russian/American (1899 - 1988) Title: untitled Year: 1984 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: AP X Image Size: 34 x 24 inches Size: 3...
Category

1980s Abstract Louise Nevelson

Materials

Screen

"Dusk in August" from the Portfolio of Nine
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Hinsdale, IL
NEVELSON, LOUISE (1899-1988) "Dusk in August" Lithograph in colors, 1967 Signed, dated, titled, and numbered in pencil lower margin This impression is XVIII/XX Sheet Size: 17” x 22” Published by Hollander’s Workshop with their blindstamp This lithograph by Louise Nevelson was made in collaboration with eight other artists in 1967. The other artists included in this portfolio collaboration are Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Nevelson, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Henry Pearson, Sam Francis, Richard Lindner, and Saul Steinberg. Louise Nevelson is one of American’s foremost artists, Nevelson’s sculpted wood assemblages transcended space and transformed the viewer’s perception of art. She was an American sculptor best known for her monochromatic wooden assemblages. During the 1950s, she began to create unique arrangements contained in wooden frames amassed from a range of found objects—usually woodcuts or bits of furniture—that were then painted a uniform black, white, or gold, as seen in her seminal work Royal Tide I (1960). Louise Nevelson emerged in the art world amidst the dominance of the Abstract Expressionist movement. In her most iconic works, she utilized wooden objects that she gathered from urban debris piles to create her monumental installations - a process clearly influenced by the precedent of Marcel Duchamp's found object sculptures and "readymades." Nevelson’s prints share with her sculpture an interest in silhouetted forms and the layering of elements, but distinguish themselves by their vivid color, depth and movement.. Louise Nevelson experimented in several different print mediums. A 1963 Ford Foundation grant enabled June Wayne of the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, to extend an invitation to Nevelson. This initial collaboration led to twenty six lithographs, mostly black with dark blue or red, which combined hand-drawn elements with printed lace. Nevelson returned to Tamarind in 1967 to complete sixteen large scale lithographs know as Double Imagery. In these lithographs Nevelson played with landscapes of shadows and reflections using irregular shaped papers and a limited palette of black, red, grey and blue. For her brilliant compositions in varied mediums critics hailed her as the leading sculptor of the twentieth century. A pioneering grand dame of the art works, Nevelson’s iconic persona was characterized by her skilled mixing and matching of ethnic clothing...
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1960s Abstract Expressionist Louise Nevelson

Materials

Lithograph

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) - Screen printing on paper - 1968
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Varese, IT
"Night Reflections". Screen printing on paper, edited in 1968. Limited edition of 100 copies , numbered as 60/100 in lower left corner.
 Hand-signed by artist in pencil in the lower...
Category

1960s Abstract Louise Nevelson

Materials

Paper, Screen

Magnificent Jungle Cats
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Magnificent Jungle Cats Etching, drypoint and monoprint inking of the plate Printed by the artist at Atelier 17, New York Annotated 1/5 in pencil Estate stamp and number, verso Editi...
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1950s Abstract Louise Nevelson

Materials

Etching

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Louise Nevelson Sale Prices

Sold DateSold PriceCategoryMediumCreation Year
2025$800Floor LampsWood1970
2025$4,750Abstract SculpturesWood1972
2025$2,932Decorative Art, Wall-mounted SculpturesPlaster1965
2024$2,800Prints and Multiples, Abstract PrintsScreen Print, Gel Pen, Pencil1968
2024$6,250Wall MirrorsMirror, Plaster20th Century
2024$13,382Sculptures, Mixed MediaWood1974
2024$699Abstract Sculptures, More Desk AccessoriesWood1951
2024$500Abstract Prints, More ArtPaper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset Print1972
$4,220
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months
$526-$15,000
Sold price range of items in the past 12 months

Artists Similar to Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Louise Nevelson art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Louise Nevelson in etching, aquatint, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Louise Nevelson art, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Larry Zox, Robert Kelly, and Rufino Tamayo. Louise Nevelson art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $300 and tops out at $90,000, while the average work can sell for $5,500.
Questions About Louise Nevelson
  • 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022
    Some of Louise Nevelson's sculptures were called environments. These collage-like walls consisted of wooden boxes filled with found objects. Some of her most famous environments include the Black Wall from 1959 and The Great Wall from 1970. Find a selection of Louise Nevelson art on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Louise Nevelson is best known for her work creating wooden structures and sculptures. However, she also explored using plexiglass, aluminum and steel in her art. Her work is considered fundamental to the history of Feminist art and has challenged the stereotype of the male sculptor, solidifying her place in art history. Shop a selection of Louise Nevelson pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Louise Nevelson used found wooden forms and made sculptures in steel, aluminum, plexiglass and other materials. Her artistic journey often featured wood, as she found it fascinating, but she added plastics and formica in the 1960s. In the 1970s she began to work on a gigantic scale with aluminum and steel. Shop a selection of Louise Nevelson pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.

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