Louise Nevelson: The Sculptor Who Turned Wood Into Gold At Palazzo Fava, Italy
Until July 20th, 2025, the noble floor halls of Palazzo Fava in Bologna, Italy will host the first major monographic exhibition dedicated to Louise Nevelson (Kiev, 1899 – New York, 1988), one of the most revolutionary and independent figures of 20th-century art. Curated by Ilaria Bernardi, the exhibition celebrates an artist who, through her monumental painted wood sculptures, redefined the very concept of sculpture and boldly claimed space for female identity in art.
LEFT: Ritratto di Louise Nevelson, 1973. Photo: Enrico Cattaneo. Courtesy Gió Marconi, Milano; RIGHT: Louise Nevelson, (Kiev, 1899 – New York, 1988) © Gianni Ummarino
The life of Louise Nevelson
Emigrating to the United States at a very young age, Louise Nevelson embodied an untamed, fearless energy from the start. With courage, she shattered the confines of the traditional roles of wife and mother, choosing art as an act of freedom and inner rebellion. Her life became a living manifesto: a woman who reinvented herself, shaping her own identity just as she shaped her sculptures from fragments and shadows. This radical gesture transformed her into a true pioneer, among the first women to gain international recognition in sculpture. Already in the 1950s, her works — powerful visual architectures in black wood — entered the collections of iconic institutions such as MoMA, marking the emergence of a new figure: an artist who transforms her personal story into a universal language capable of speaking to the entire world.
An alchemical journey: from black to white, to gold
The exhibition in Bologna, organized in collaboration with the Fondazione Marconi, presents over thirty works divided into five thematic rooms. The exhibition path offers a unique journey through Nevelson’s artistic “vocabulary,” highlighting her iconic painted wood sculptures, collages, assemblages, and the rare golden works.
LEFT: Louise Nevelson, The Golden Pearl, 1962, legno dipinto di oro / wood painted gold, 176.1 x 97.4 x 23.6 cm. Ph.: © Fabio Mantegna. Courtesy Gió Marconi, Milano; RIGHT: Volcanic Magic XXXV, 1985, cartoncino, pittura e legno su tavola
The black sculptures: cabinets of memories and contemporary altars
In the Sala Giasone, Nevelson’s celebrated black sculptures appear as monumental libraries of memories: cabinets filled with fragments of everyday life, assembled and transfigured into sacred architectures. For Nevelson, black is not the absence of color, but the container of all colors — a symbol of power and mystery. These works embody a ritual of transformation: the discarded becomes precious, the everyday object becomes sacred.
LEFT: Louise Nevelson, Untitled (1964; wood painted black, 216 x 241 x 49.5 cm) Photo: © Alessandro Zambianchi. Courtesy of Gió Marconi, Milan; RIGHT: Louise Nevelson, City Series, 1974, legno dipinto di nero / wood painted black, 245 x 380 x 6 cm. Ph.: © Gianni Ummarino. Courtesy Gió Marconi, Milano
In the Sala Rubianesca, the “doors” suspended like paintings evoke the idea of passage. Elements of chairs, backrests, and domestic objects become symbolic thresholds, inviting us to transcend the social limits imposed on women. Nevelson transforms these materials into ritual icons, capable of speaking about emancipation and spirituality.
LEFT: Installation view, Louise Nevelson, Bologna, Palazzo Fava. Ph ST.; RIGHT: Installation view, Louise Nevelson, Bologna, Palazzo Fava. Ph ST.
Inner landscapes and urban totems
The Sala Enea hosts works such as Tropical Landscape (1975) and City Series (1974), true abstract landscapes that reveal the soul of the city and of nature. Here, the artist’s gaze shifts from individual objects to a broader vision, where sculpture becomes a cosmic narrative.
LEFT: Installation view, Louise Nevelson, Bologna, Palazzo Fava. Ph ST.; RIGHT: Ritratto di Louise Nevelson, 1973. Photo: Enrico Cattaneo. Courtesy Gió Marconi, Milano
Collage: fragments of memory recomposed
The Sala Albani is dedicated to collages and assemblages, where humble materials and discarded objects are transformed into precious visual stories. In these works, Nevelson explores the concept of “destruction-transfiguration”: destroying to create, dismantling to be reborn. Each recovered fragment is a memory, a piece of life that becomes art.
LEFT: Installation view, Louise Nevelson, Bologna, Palazzo Fava. Ph ST.; RIGHT: Louise Nevelson, Untitled, 1985, paint, vinyl and wood on board, 51″ x 81-1/4″ x 7-1/2″ (129.5 cm x 203.8 cm x 19 cm)
The exhibition culminates in the Cesi and Carracci Rooms, where the golden works mark the completion of Nevelson’s alchemical journey. From black — symbol of origin and chaos — to white as purification, and finally to gold as spiritual triumph and rebirth. “The Golden Pearl” (1962) shines as the manifesto of this metamorphosis, evoking perfection and light.
Louise Nevelson at Palazzo Fava is an immersion into the powerful universe of an artist who transformed scraps into art, wood into gold, and doors into symbols of emancipation.
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