Louise Nevelson

(September 23, 1899-April 17, 1988)

Born in Czarist Russia, the sculpture Louise Nevelson emigrated with her family to the U.S. in the early twentieth century, settling in Maine. In 1920, she moved to New York City and in the early '30 attended art classes at the Art Students League of New York. Her sculptures began to attract attention in the early 1940s, and gained wide fame in the 1950s when museums began buying them. Usually created out of wood, her sculptures and reliefs appear puzzle-like, with multiple elements placed into either wall or free-standing pieces. Her work is also recognizable because it is painted in all black or white.