Louise Nevelson
(September 23, 1899-April 17, 1988)
Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire or present-day Ukraine, Nevelson migrated with her family to America in the early 20th century. There she learned English at school since she only spoke Yiddish at the time. In the 1930s she began taking art classes at the Art Students League of New York, by 1941 she had her first solo exhibition. Nevelson became a student of Hans Hofmann and Chaim Gross, she usually experimented with found objects, paintings and printing before working with sculpture. She studied under Hofmann and Cubism in Munich, Germany and met him when he was a guest instructor at the Arts Students League. Louise Nevelson became known for working with wood and creating monochromatic, puzzle-like wall pieces. The figures were either wooden wall pieces or outdoor sculptures painted black or white. Even though she was considered a "starving artist" she was able to illustrate her freedom of expression and passion threw her art. One of Louise Nevelson's biggest accomplishments was that she was showcased in a international art scene called the 31st Venice Biennale. Today much of her work is seen in museums and other major corporations, and she still remains one of the most important figures in 20th-century American sculpture world.
Hans Hofmann
(March 21, 1880- February 17, 1966)
A German-born American abstract expressionist painter that was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria in Germany. At the young age of six he moved to Munich with his family due to his father taking a job with the government. After the death of his father Hofmann became interested in the creative studies. His work seems to be influenced by Henri Matisse, showing a somewhat pictorial structure with spatial illusion and interesting color relationships. He started to work abstractly in the 1940s because he believed abstract art was a way to get to the important reality. Hans Hofmann famously stated " the ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak ". He founded many schools in both Germany and the United States where he was an artist and a art teacher. In Munich he founded an art school that had many future artist attending such as Louise Nevelson. In 1932 he immigrated to the United States, where he stayed until his death in 1966.
Lee Bontecou
(January 15, 1931-present)
A 85 year old American sculptor, printmaker, and pioneer figure in the New York art world. Born in Providence, Rhode Island she attended Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, Massachusetts and then later attended the Art Students League of New York (like Louise Nevelson) from 1952 to 1955. Bontecou's work is deeply influenced and affected by World War II and possibly inspired by Louise Nevelson. Since both her parents joined the war effort, Lee spent most of her summers with her grandmother in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, where she developed a love for the natural world. Best known for sculptures with challenging artistic conventions with both materials and presentations by hanging on the wall. She keeps a recognizable style and received broad recognition in the 1960s. Rich organic shapes with energy shapes her drawings, prints, and sculptures. Using found materials and welded steel frames with a recycled canvas and industrial materials and other found objects. Bontecou's work has been displayed and collected by many museum corporations in both Europe and the United States.
