well, you missed it

Night Presence IV

And I am sorry you did. I didn't, however. I saw the Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) retrospective in all its glory at The Jewish Museum before it closed on September 16. The exhibition was just down the street, 92nd Street, that is, from the permanent installation of Night Presence IV (1972, cor-ten steel) on the green median strip of Park Avenue. Nevelson donated the sculpture as a gift to the City of New York. The original model for this work was included in the retrospective.

I have good news for you. The show will travel to the de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco for a brief showing, October 27-January 13. It is a rare opportunity to see so many of Nevelson's pieces under one roof, gathered from private collections and museums around the world. Her works in series have been reassembled as cohesive installations to create a new harmony among the forms. I saw details I never saw before, and understood her work in a new context.

If you are in the neighborhood of 92nd Street and Park Avenue, you must pay a visit to Night Presence IV, and then take trip to San Francisco to complete your study on this great sculptor.