Homage to the World

1966

Louise Nevelson American, 1899 - 1988

On View

Contemporary, Level 2, North Wing

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

Nevelson built her "wall" sculptures from prefabricated wooden boxes, stocking them with objects that she found around her: in the case of Homage to the World, she used hat stands and table legs. In her use of the "found object," she extended the legacy of the wood constructions and collages of Picasso and his circle after World War I, but pushed this idea to an architectural scale. Her "walls" also owe a debt to the iconoclastic innovations of American painters in the 1950s—notably Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman—for the increased scale, use of non-traditional materials, and interest in creating an engulfing, sensuous environment. In these works, Nevelson sought to create her own universe, perhaps as a shelter from her personal loneliness. The uniform coat of matte black paint that covers the "wall" suggests infinite space, distance, mystery, and shadow.

Title Homage to the World

Artwork Date 1966

Artist Louise Nevelson

Life Dates 1899 - 1988

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Painted wood

Dimensions Overall: 108 inches × 392 inches

Classification Sculpture

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Friends of Modern Art Fund other Founders Society Funds

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 66.192

Markings

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Provenance

1966-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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Published References

Art News 65, no. 6 (Oct. 1966): 58, 61.

Louise Nevelson. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1967, no. 94 (ill.).

Bazin, Germain. The History of World Sculpture. New York, 1970, pl. 1021, p. 447, (ill.). (Error, titled as "Homage to 6,000,000", on extended loan to Jewish Museum from the Albert A. List family).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Louise Nevelson, Homage to the World, 1966, painted wood. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Friends of Modern Art Fund other Founders Society Funds, 66.192.