The Ancient Garden
1953/1955
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching with engraving, aquatint, and softground in black on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 37.5 x 45.4 cm (14 3/4 x 17 7/8 in.) sheet: 43.2 x 58.4 cm (17 x 23 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Collectors Committee
Accession Number
1996.117.2
Art Historical Context
Louise Nevelson’s *The Ancient Garden* (1953/1955) is a striking print that captures the artist’s emerging modernist vision during the vibrant post-World War II New York art scene. Best known for her monumental abstract sculptures—towering walls of wooden found objects unified in monochromatic paint—Nevelson ventured into printmaking in the 1950s, exploring similar themes of mystery, shadow, and organic forms. This work, housed in the National Gallery of Art as a gift from the Collectors Committee, reflects her fascination with evoking ancient, dreamlike spaces through abstracted shapes. Crea...
About the Artist
Louise Nevelson
Louise Nevelson (1899–1988) was a Ukrainian-born American sculptor who became one of the most prominent figures in twentieth-century American art, renowned for her monumental wooden wall sculptures. Born Leah Berliawsky in Pereiaslav, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), she emigrated with her family to Rockland, Maine, in 1905 and moved to New York City in 1920, where she studied at the Art Students Lea...