Model for Night Presence IV
Artist/Maker
Louise Nevelson
(United States (born Russia), 1899-1988)
Date1955
Mediumwood and stain
DimensionsOverall: 28 x 20 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (71.1 x 52.1 x 26.7 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of The Pace Gallery and partial purchase through the Lowe Docent Guild and Museum Acquisitions Funds
Terms
Object number91.0412
DescriptionModel for Night Presence IV, by Louise Nevelson, one of America's most renowned and original sculptors, dates to the period in the artist’s development when she first assembled found wooden architectural and decorative elements to make sculptural “walls.” The museum’s model reveals Nevelson's process for making larger constructions in which various objects are aligned vertically and horizontally. The open construction of individual elements, juxtaposed to create a forceful relationship between positive and negative space, takes on an architectural presence. At the same time, viewed frontally, the work, which consists of a cutout of a profiled bird perched atop doorknobs and framed by spiral forms, assumes a pictorial quality. Model for Night Presence IV was translated into a 22'-high Cor-Ten steel sculpture and presented by Nevelson to the City of New York in 1972; it is one of the artist's earliest outdoor metal works. Even as a small-scale prototype, the Lowe's work points ahead to the large, complex wood walls and environments - private worlds, really - which absorbed Nevelson artistically until her death.On View
Not on viewCollections
