Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk

Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk 

January 29 — July 31, 2026

Organized by Farnsworth Art Museum and guest curated by Suzette McAvoy 

Spanning Louise Nevelson's career from 1929–1985, the exhibition traces the groundbreaking artist's formative years to her emergence as a sculptor of international renown through works selected from the Farnsworth Art Museum collection. 

Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk traces the groundbreaking artist’s formative years to her emergence as a sculptor of international renown through 40 works selected from the Farnsworth Art Museum collection. Spanning her career from 1929–1985, included in the exhibition are a selection of early paintings and figurative sculptures in terracotta, cast stone, and bronze; later painted wood sculptures, reliefs, and collages; and examples of her unique handcrafted jewelry.

Born Leah Berliawsky in 1899 in Tsarist Russia, near Kyiv in Ukraine, Nevelson immigrated to Rockland, Maine, with her family in 1905 to escape the persecution of Jews under the Imperialist regime. Before she died in 1988, Nevelson donated 56 examples of her art to the Farnsworth Art Museum in her hometown, making the Farnsworth collection the second largest holding of her work after the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk addresses themes central to Nevelson's artistic development: her immigrant experience; her determination to pursue an art career against great personal and cultural odds; her innovative, experimental use of materials; and her pioneering approach to installation and sculpture.