Tuesday, July 30, 2019

"Mrs. N's Palace"


This is a work by Louise Nevelson, another piece in the new "Epic Abstraction" exhibition at the Met.  It is an astounding sculpture.  This is how the Met described the piece: "This sculpture composed of more than one hundred seemingly disparate but interconnected objects absorbs and emanates her spirit and that of her adopted home. Her largest work, it took thirteen years to complete and was unveiled on her eightieth birthday. The charismatic Nevelson is the "Mrs. N" of the title, the monarch of this massive structure that is both environment and monument, recalling grand memorials and tombs as well as intimate, private spaces. Nevelson was captivated by the beauty she found in discarded materials and urban detritus, tenderly composing, layering, and painting her "found objects" until they shed their skin, reborn as art. Here, it is forgotten things found by chance that together make up the whole—perhaps a metaphor for the city, even for life."  This is a view of the piece from the outside.  It is a huge piece,  11.5 feet by 20 feet by 15 feet!  


This is a photograph of the inside of Mrs. N's Palace, and it is as complex and as fascinating as the outside.  I have never seen this piece on display before, so it was an amazing thing to come across.  It stopped me in my tracks!  Isn't this just astounding?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Hard for me to imagine how she saw this vision with so many objects and worked on it for 13 years. Wonderful post.
Joan

Ken Spencer said...

Hi Joan: Yes, it is astounding how she visualized this over such a long time. It is an astounding piece to be standing in front of.