The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury

A deep dive into the life and work of sculptor Louise Nevelson recontextualizes her art in light of social movements, travel, and her experiences in dance and theater. Known for her monumental wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures, Louise Nevelson (1899–1988) was a towering figure in twentieth-century American art. A more nuanced picture of Nevelson emerges in The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury. Discussions about Nevelson’s early involvement with modern dance and subsequent immersion in avant-garde theater bring new understandings of her drawings and sculptures. A reframing of her travels to Mexico and Guatemala in the early 1950s demonstrates, for the first time, how colonial archaeology haunted her visual language for decades. Hardcover, 208 pages.