WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson

1899–1988

WA-00005675

Sculpture

Representation

None documented

1

Institutional Exhibitions

153

Works in Collection

303

Assets Indexed

17

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

Field Verification (8 fields)

6 cross-verified · 2 single-source

Birth yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
DeceasedWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Death yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Primary mediumWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
BiographyWikipedia + Unknown· 88%✓
WebsiteWikidata· 92%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy+1· 92%
LocationArtsy + Wikidata+1· 85%

Source Registry (4)

Pace-Galleryhttps://www.pacegallery.com/artists/
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/louise-nevelson
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Sothebyshttps://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/louise-nevelson
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/4278
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Louise Nevelson built monumental wall assemblages from found wooden fragments, crates, spindles, and architectural salvage, unified by a single coat of matte black, white, or gold paint. The monochromatic surface collapses the individual components into dense, shadow-filled reliefs that operate simultaneously as painting and sculpture. Born in the Russian Empire in 1899, she emigrated to the United States as a child and went on to become a defining figure in American assemblage. Her outdoor sculptures extended the same additive, environmental logic into public space at architectural scale.

Source: Pace Gallery · Trust score: 100% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Sculpture

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tate Whitney Museum of American Art Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (153)

Untitled from Nevelson's World

1983 · Multiple of black polyester resin

composition 9 1/2 x 8 7/16 x 5/16" (24.1 x 21.5 x 0.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Nevelson's World

1983 · Monograph with one screenprint and one multiple of black polyester resin

page 12 15/16 x 11 13/16" (33 x 30 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Unbound plate from Nevelson's World

Unbound plate from Nevelson's World

1983 · Screenprint

irreg. composition 10 7/16 x 9 13/16" (26.5 x 25 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Series of an Unknown Cosmos XVII

Series of an Unknown Cosmos XVII

1979 · Cut, torn, and pasted paper, colored paper, painted paper, metallic foil, and wood on paper on board

16 × 20" (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Series of an Unknown Cosmos, CII

Series of an Unknown Cosmos, CII

1978 · Cut, torn, and pasted paper, colored paper, painted paper, metallic foil, and wood on board

24 × 20" (61 × 50.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1977 · black fiber-tipped pen and black paper collage

Sheet: 76.7 x 56 cm (30 3/16 x 22 1/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Moon Garden (Black)

Moon Garden (Black)

1976 · Cast paper toned with matte black spray paint

93 × 67.5 cm (36 5/8 × 26 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Moon Passage

1976 · Lithograph, etching, aquatint and embossing with collage additions

plate: 6 15/16 x 7 5/16" (17.6 x 18.6 cm); sheet: 18 7/16 x 15 7/8" (46.8 x 40.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled from Homage to Picasso (Hommage à Picasso)

Untitled from Homage to Picasso (Hommage à Picasso)

1974 · Screenprint from a portfolio of thirty-one lithographs (one with aquatint, one with collotype, one with screenprint), twenty-two screenprints (one with embossing, one with flocking, one with stencil), eleven etchings (five with aquatint, one with aquatint and drypoint, one with aquatint, drypoint, and engraving), three aquatints (one with etching), and two woodcuts

composition: 25 5/8 x 16 1/8" (65.1 x 41cm); sheet: 29 15/16 x 20 1/8" (76 x 51.1cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled, from The New York Collection for Stockholm

Untitled, from The New York Collection for Stockholm

1973 · Five-color silkscreen on ivory wove paper

30.5 × 22.9 cm (12 1/16 × 9 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Sky Shadow

1973 · Embossed lead on paper

Composition (irreg.): 23 15/16 x 17 5/16" (60.8 x 44 cm); sheet: 29 15/16 x 25" (76 x 63.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled from The New York Collection for Stockholm

Untitled from The New York Collection for Stockholm

1973 · Screenprint with varnish additions from a portfolio of seventeen screenprints, nine lithographs, two lithographs with screenprint, one photocopy, and one photograph

composition (irreg.): 10 5/16 x 7 1/2" (26.2 x 19.1cm); sheet: 11 15/16 x 8 7/8" (30.3 x 22.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1973 · aquatint, etching, lithograph and collage

Cleveland Museum of Art

Dream House XXIII

1972 · Painted wood and plywood

Overall: 70 5/8 × 29 × 16 7/8 in. (179.4 × 73.7 × 42.9 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

1972 · Collage on paper

Sheet: 29 15/16 × 20 in. (76 × 50.8 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

1972 · Paper collage and colored pencil on board

Sheet: 29 15/16 × 20 in. (76 × 50.8 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Reflections on a Waterfall II

Reflections on a Waterfall II

1972 · Wood and paint

221.7 × 503 × 38.1 cm (87 1/4 × 198 × 15 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Tropical Leaves

Tropical Leaves

1972 · Embossed lead on paper

Composition (irreg.): 25 3/16 x 15 15/16" (64 x 40.5 cm); sheet: 29 13/16 x 24 13/16" (75.7 x 63.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Night Tree

1972 · Embossed lead on paper

Composition (irreg.): 22 13/16 x 14 1/4" (58 x 36.2 cm); sheet: 29 15/16 x 24 15/16" (76 x 63.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1972 · wood, stone, horn

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Night Sound

The Night Sound

1971 · Embossed lead on paper

Composition (irreg.): 25 1/2 x 16 5/16" (64.8 x 41.4 cm); sheet: 29 15/16 x 24 15/16" (76 x 63.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Sky Garden

1971 · Embossed lead on paper

Composition (irreg.): 23 1/4 x 14 3/4" (59 x 37.4 cm); sheet: 29 13/16 x 24 7/8" (75.7 x 63.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1971 · Painted wood

H. 133-1/2, W. 112, D. 30 inches (339.1 x 284.5 x 76.2 cm.) Base: H.4 in. (10.2 cm.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Great Wall

1970 · Embossed lead on paper

Composition (irreg.): 23 15/16 x 17 5/8" (60.8 x 44.8 cm); sheet: 29 13/16 x 25 3/16" (75.8 x 63.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 153 artworks →

Artwork sources (7)

153 published of 236 catalogued · 164 with image

MoMA
80 publishedof 160 catalogued125 img
Art Institute Chicago
35 published35 img
Whitney
25 published
The Met
6 published
Cleveland Museum of Art
6 published
Tate
1 published1 img
+ 1 more source · 3 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

Night Tree
1965 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Ancient Garden (Night Garden)
1953 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Dancing Figure
1953 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

28 assets

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

America Dawn (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

America Dawn (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Louise Nevelson, Collections of the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California 24

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Dawn's Landscape XL

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Louise Nevelson Plaza 6

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Louise Nevelson Plaza 5

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Louise Nevelson Plaza 4

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

View all 28 media items →

Relationships

7

Collections7

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate Whitney Museum of American Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Tate

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Background

Education

Rutgers University

Visual Arts

Art Students League of New York

Visual Arts

Atelier 17

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Exhibition Collection View: Louise Nevelson