ARTS 209: Critical Appreciation of Art - Analyzing Nevelson's Work

This essay offers a critical appreciation of Louise Nevelson's artwork, specifically focusing on her sculpture 'City Sun Scape.' It begins by introducing Nevelson and her artistic style, known for abstract expressionism and the use of reclaimed wooden objects. The analysis follows the seven steps of gallery analysis, describing the artwork's physical attributes, interpreting its meaning, and critically evaluating its significance. The essay highlights Nevelson's response to a male-dominated society, her use of materials to symbolize urban architecture and the celestial realm, and the chaotic yet meaningful arrangement of the sculpture's components. It also addresses criticisms regarding the sculpture's comprehensibility. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of art in human life, encouraging viewers to find beauty and meaning in mundane experiences, as exemplified by Nevelson's transformation of discarded materials into a compelling work of art. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments.

Running head: CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF ART
Critical appreciation of Art
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF ART
In the contemporary globalized world of today culture is one of the most important aspect
of a person’s life. It aids in the development of the emotions of human beings (Zaidel, 2018).
This is essential because in the hustle of the city life and their never ending search for monetary
resources, has made people too much focused on the attainment of materialistic things. People
are no longer, or hardly interested to take some time and engage in their own culture (Mann,
2016). The essay begins with an introduction of the artist. This essay then seeks to analyze one
of the art pieces of Louise Nevelson, which goes by the name of City Sun scape. The essay
critically analyzes the chosen piece of art based on the seven steps of gallery analysis. The essay
concludes with the importance of art in the lives of human being.
Louise Nevelson is known for her expression of abstract art. In most of her work, she
utilized objects of wooden nature gathered from the debris piles in the urban areas. She did this
in order to give some significance to the discarded objects; trying to create something majestic
and meaningful from the debris pile. Louise Nevelson is known for her dominating personality
within the realm of art and is often associated with the Feminist art movements.
The art work on City Sun scape is one of the wondrous sculpture of Louise Nevelson.
The first step of gallery analysis is description of the art piece. The big sculpture is one of
Nevelson’s abstract expressionist piece of work which sought to provide a response to the male
dominated society during the middle of the twentieth century ("Louise Nevelson | City - Space -
Scape V (1968) | Available for Sale | Artsy", 2019). In order to design the sculpture Nevelson
used tiny pieces of the wood scraps that could be found near the site of extremely old buildings.
She nailed these pieces together and boxed them up in to tiny cubicles to give shape to the
sculpture.

2CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF ART
One of the most important aspect of the sculpture is the utilization of the different
materials used in the installation of this piece of art (Dissanayake, 2015). Nevelson had used
raisin and wooden parts in order to sculpt the beautiful structure of City Sun Scape. The painting
is of the dimension 26 1/82 x 44 7/8 inches and 66.1 x 114 centimeters ("Louise Nevelson | City
- Space - Scape V (1968) | Available for Sale | Artsy", 2019).
The next step of gallery analysis is interpretation (Hermeren, 2015). She had chosen the
wooden parts as they were a tribute paid to both the architecture of the urban environment and
the celestial realm. She also made the attempt to put the different cubicles in such a manner that
they give a picture of utter chaos when viewed in its entirety.
One significant step of gallery analysis is that of critical analysis of the art piece (Hadi,
2018). The blackened wood which was used to sculpt the sculpture has immense significance for
the audience. It shows to the people how the materials discarded by the people can be turned in
to something beautiful and mesmerizing. The sculpture tries to depict the essence of human
civilization and how beauty can be found in something as mundane as wood pieces and in the
color black. The ‘black’ color which was used in the making of the sculpture also has a
significance for the people ("Louise Nevelson | City - Space - Scape V (1968) | Available for
Sale | Artsy", 2019). It shows how the misery of the people and their sadness can be painted over
in order to give away to the building of something new and glorious. However, the piece has
been criticized by several critics on the issue of the chaotic representation within the sculpture.
The small pieces of wood has been put together in to a chaotic whole which sought to give
meaning to the art piece. However, to some people, this very aspect makes the sculpture
incomprehensible and they struggle to understand the essence of the piece of art.

3CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF ART
In conclusion it can be observed that any art work plays a significant role within the lives
of human beings. They reveal to the people what are the various aspects of life which should be
taken in to cognizance. They lay emphasis on the mundane things of life and tries to encourage
people to find peace and comfort in such little experiences. For instance, the sculpture of City
Sun scape shows by Louise Nevelson encourages the people to find happiness in the discarded
pieces of life.

4CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF ART
References:
Dissanayake, E. (2015). What is art for?. University of Washington Press.
Hadi, A. (2018). Importance of Symbolism in Visual Art: A Critical Analysis in Contemporary
Scenario. The Achievers Journal: Journal of English Language, Literature and
Culture, 4(3), 31-36.
Hermeren, G. (2015). Influence in art and literature (Vol. 1445). Princeton University Press.
Louise Nevelson | City - Space - Scape V (1968) | Available for Sale | Artsy. (2019). Artsy.net.
Mann, S. (2016). Perceptual systems, an inexhaustible reservoir of information and the
importance of art. Art & Perception, 4(4), 265-279.
Zaidel, D. W. (2018). Culture and art: Importance of art practice, not aesthetics, to early human
culture. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 237, pp. 25-40). Elsevier.