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Contemporary Art

First Personage

Louise Nevelson

1 of 6

Object Label

Louise Nevelson emerged as an artist in the early 1940s, against criticism that she was neglecting the roles of wife and mother and biased skepticism about a female sculptor’s physical and intellectual strength. Nevelson’s totemic wood construction evokes the psychological tension between interior and exterior. As suggested by the sculpture’s title, the undulating frontal slab represents the controlled, outer persona, while the spiky column behind intimates a hidden, agitated, and chaotic self. First Personage features found, splintered, rough, and broken pieces of wood and is one of the first examples that the artist composed in what would become her iconic form.

Caption

Louise Nevelson (American, born Ukraine, 1899–1988). First Personage, 1956. Painted wood, a: 94 × 37 1/16 × 11 1/4 in. (238.8 × 94.1 × 28.6 cm) b: 73 11/16 × 24 3/16 × 7 1/4 in. (187.2 × 61.4 × 18.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Berliawsky, 57.23a-b. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

First Personage

Date

1956

Medium

Painted wood

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

a: 94 × 37 1/16 × 11 1/4 in. (238.8 × 94.1 × 28.6 cm) b: 73 11/16 × 24 3/16 × 7 1/4 in. (187.2 × 61.4 × 18.4 cm)

Signatures

"NEVELSON" carved into the wood on the base of component b

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Berliawsky

Accession Number

57.23a-b

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    This is such a fascinating piece; I love how it changes depending on where you are standing. This large, textured, black wooden sculpture is characteristic of Nevelson's work, especially in the 1950s.
    Nevelson is considered a pioneer as a woman artist, as a feminist artist, and as an abstract sculptor.
    In the mid-20th century, prominent abstract sculptors like Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Calder were working primarily in stone and metal. In contrast, Nevelson favored found materials, especially wood.

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Artists and makers

Louise Nevelson

86 works in the collection