Louise Nevelson
Movable Forms
c. 1945
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Louise Nevelson
Movable Forms
c. 1945
Physical Qualities
Terracotta, paint, 16 1/2 x 22 3/4 x 12 in. (41.9 x 57.8 x 30.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney E. Cohn, New York
Object Number
1964.28.4
This sculpture is made of terracotta, a clay-based ceramic used for both art making and industrial purposes. Its three sections, with a lightly carved face on the topmost piece, evoke a human figure. Louise Nevelson designed this sculpture with movable parts: the top two sections can pivot along the metal pole. Nevelson completed a series of these works around 1945. Known for her innovative monochromatic sculptures, later built mostly of assembled wood fragments, Nevelson painted this work all black, which she described as “the most aristocratic color of all.”
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1964; Mr. & Mrs. Sidney E. Cohn, New York, NY
"Woman Artists," BMA, 1972.
Oliver Shell, BMA, "Advancing Abstraction in Modern Sculpture," July - February 2011.
Oliver Shell, BMA, "Advancing Abstraction in Modern Sculpture," July - February 2011.
John-Paul Stonard, "Abstraction in Sculpture," "The Burlington Magazine," November 2010, CLII, p. 769.
On View: American Wing Second Floor, Scott 03
