Sky Cathedral

Media - 1994.85A-AA - SAAM-1994.85A-AA_1 - 11941
Copied Louise Nevelson, Sky Cathedral, 1982, painted wood, overall: 104 3⁄8 x 288 3⁄8 x 15 3⁄4 in. (265.1 x 732.5 x 40.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 1994.85A-AA

Artwork Details

Title
Sky Cathedral
Artist
Date
1982
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 104 3⁄8 x 288 3⁄8 x 15 3⁄4 in. (265.1 x 732.5 x 40.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of an anonymous donor
Mediums
Mediums Description
painted wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Abstract
Object Number
1994.85A-AA
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.85A-AA

Artwork Description

Nevelson's wall sculptures have an architectural scale and dramatic impact that suited the artist’s grand personality. The artist liked black paint because it conjured "totality, peace and greatness." Here, the light gently picks up the spectral outlines of the fragmented objects to create an elusive handwriting across the velvety black field. Sky Cathedral evokes what Nevelson called "the heavenly spheres, the places between the land and the sea" lying beyond our experience of ordinary things.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006