MoMA

Sky Catherdral by Louise Nevelson c. 1958

        Ukrainian born sculptor Louise Nevelson shared an affinity with the works of Abstract Expressionism. Although Nevelson wasn’t primarily a painter, she exhibited a keen interest in composing large scale works that specifically experimented with line, flatness, and scale. Similar to a few of her contemporaries such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, she was deeply intrigued by spritual transcendence and the sublime. During the 1940s and 50s Nevelson traveled to Central America and was completely awestruck by the “world of geometry and magic” she saw in the Mayan Ruins. This style of reoccurring geometric patterns and shapes are very prevalent throughout Nevelson’s compositions. Sky Catherdral evokes a sense of divinity. It’s structure resembles that of a temple or place of devotion to prayer. This piece is composed of wooden compartment filled boxes stacked against a wall. Each box consists of wooden materials including furniture parts, dowels, spindles, and moldings. The entire construction was covered in a deep-matte black paint obscuring the individual components while simultaneously unifying the assemblage. 

Cathedral by Hans Hofmann c. 1959

        Bavarian painter Hans Hofmann was a rather pertinent figure in the 1940s and 50s through his extensive contributions to Abstract Expressionist art. Hofmann’s style was representative of a myriad of modes which fused varying techniques to develop his impressive body of work. He possessed an expansive knowledge of French art which led him to spread European modernist ideals and styles when he immigrated to the United States in 1930. He believed artists should create contrasts of color, form, and texture in order to convey movement and depth in the composition. Although it may not seem like it, nature was the main component of Hoffman’s work. There is movement all throughout nature and he was a firm believer it was the origin of art. No matter how abstract his pictures were, he stated they all suggested movement—“and movement was the pulse of nature”. This ideology is wonderfully exhibited in the paining shown above. His use of bright contrasting colors and varied  geometric shapes (rectangular in form) suggest the fluidity of movement within the canvas. Hofmann was also a proponent of using colors normally found in nature in the majority of his artistic works. Cathedral contains cascades of earthtones, deep, rich blues, passionate reds, and lush greens. These colors symbolizing what the eye may perceive as colors of the natural world.