Louise Nevelson (1899-1988)

Sky City I

Details

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988)
Sky City I
incised with the artist's signature four times and dated four times 'NEVELSON 1959' (on the painted elements); incised again with the artist's signature and dated 'NEVELSON 1957' (on the reverse of a painted element)
painted wood and laminated wood base, in six parts
overall: 93 ¾ x 61 ¾ x 20 in. (238.1 x 156.8 x 50.8 cm.)
Executed in 1957-1959.

Provenance

Galerie Daniel Varenne, Geneva
Pace Gallery, New York
Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston
Anon. sale; Sotheby's, New York, 11 November 1988
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie de France, Louise Nevelson: Oeuvres 1952-1980, October-November 1981, n.p. (illustrated).
Cologne, Galerie Gmurzynska, Vision vom Raum: Kunst und Architektur von 1910 bis 1990, November 1991-January 1992, n.p. (illustrated).
New York, PaceWildenstein, Louise Nevelson, Sculpture 1957-1987, March-April 1997, pp. 4-5 and 33 (illustrated).
New York, Grant Selwyn Fine Art, November-December 1999.
Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, December 2006-October 2013 (on loan).

Sale Room Notice

This Lot is Withdrawn.

Lot Essay

‘If you paint a thing black … it takes on a whole different dimension. The … black invites different forms. A state of mind enters into it. ... For me, the black contains the silhouette, the essence of the universe’ (L. Nevelson, quoted in Louise Nevelson: Atmospheres and Environments, exh. cat., The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, 1980, p. 105).

Sky City I

Lot Essay

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