Louise Nevelson: Prints & Multiples

Pace Prints is pleased to announce Louise Nevelson: Prints and Multiples, an exhibition of the artist’s etchings, lithographs, cast paper reliefs, and small-scale multiples, on view September 6—October 20, 2018, on both the 3rd and 4th floors at 521 West 26th Street.

Included in the exhibition on the 3rd floor are prints from Louise Nevelson’s first body of work in a print medium; etchings from 1953-1955.  These early etchings illustrate Nevelson’s complex and varied use of the intaglio medium both to achieve deep tonal contrasts combined with an energetic use of line drawing.  In Archaic Figure, the space devoid of an etched surface defines the figure surrounded by finely worked black tones.  In one of Nevelson’s favorite etchings, Night Garden, the forms are defined by the negative space between a surface built up with a variety of materials and marks. The etchings show a clear reflection of Nevelson’s sculptural interest and imagery that is so iconic in the breadth of her graphic work. 

In 1967, Louise Nevelson created a series of prints at the Tamarind Institute, entitled Double Imagery.  Nevelson applied black and red inked cheesecloth to lithographic stone creating mass, depth, space and energy when printed. These images reflect a sensibility that continued throughout the artist’s entire career.

Exhibited on the 4th floor are Nevelson’s Aquatints, a set of six etchings with collage elements that display her deft use of color to project spatial relationships from the dark plane of her backgrounds.   These works play subtly on textural changes, as there are embossed details of lace, while texture and surface of gold and silver leaf reflect light forward.

Paired elegantly with Nevelson’s etchings is UJA Edition A, a sculptural black wood multiple done in an edition of ten.  One of the more imposing of Nevelson’s multiples, the work invites the viewer to connect with her world-within-world aesthetic.  This monochromatic black sculpture has a symbiotic relationship with the prints in the exhibition. 

Night Mountain, also on view, is a monumental unique tapestry commissioned by Gloria F. Ross and created at the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, Scotland.   The tapestry was created from a collaged image that Nevelson made from torn paper, cardboard and other materials.   As described by Gloria F. Ross, “Corrugations grew into weaved ripples and channels; a crumpled piece of silver foil became shiny silver-toned threads; feathered, tattered edges smoothed into more subtle margins.” 

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) was born in Kiev, Russia and moved permanently to the United States with her family in 1905. Her work has been collected and exhibited by major American institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; as well as abroad. The Estate of Louise Nevelson is represented by the Pace Gallery.  Pace Prints collaborated with Louise Nevelson in publishing her prints and multiples from the early 1970s.