Harvard Art Museums > 2002.3: Female Nude Drawings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Female Nude (Louise Nevelson) , 2002.3,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/148046. This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text These drawings, created by female artists in the 1930s, present distinct renderings of the female body. Miles’s Seated Female Nude details the weight, flesh, and folds of the figure’s skin and musculature, rendered in crosshatched flesh tones, against the blue paper support. Nevelson’ Female Nude, on the other hand, delineates a figure with a dozen sweeping graphite lines. Nevelson and Miles are primarily recognized as sculptors (Nevelson’s Total Totality II is on view nearby, in Gallery 1110). Yet these two artworks speak to their foundations in drawing and, more specifically, the practice of drawing the female nude as a longtime pillar of academic artistic edu- cation, a sphere that largely excluded women until the late 19th century. As more women found ways to pursue artistic careers in the 1900s, they also began to chip away at the perspective that objectifies women in visual media, coined "the male gaze" by feminist scholar Laura Mulvey. The possible reversal or even elimination of gendered power dynamics in artistic practice is touched upon in the photograph in the drawer below by Mary Lowber Tiers, who captures an urban scene of a drafts- woman working intensely, eye-to-eye with her sitter. Identification and Creation Object Number 2002.3 People Louise Nevelson, American (Kyiv, Ukraine (formerly part of the Russian Empire) 1899 - 1988 New York, NY) Title Female Nude Classification Drawings Work Type drawing Date c. 1935 Culture American Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/148046 Location Location Level 1, Room 1100, Modern and Contemporary Art, The Sixties Experiment/Multiple Strategies View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Graphite on off-white wove paper Dimensions 21.7 x 29.7 cm (8 9/16 x 11 11/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks Signed: lower right, graphite: nevelson inscription: verso, lower left, graphite: [collector]: Nevelson estate; [dealer]: # / LNEV666 60035 inscription: verso, graphite, handwritten: TL38114 [Fogg TL number] collector's mark: verso, stamp ink and graphite, stamped and handwritten: collector's (donor's) mark with year of acquisition: [joined M and C] 98 Provenance Recorded Ownership History Estate of Louise Nevelson, sold; to Marjorie B. Cohn, Arlington, Massachusetts through [G.W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, New York], 1998, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2002. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Marjorie B. Cohn in honor of Elizabeth ("Cassie") Mansfield Copyright © Estate of Louise Nevelson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Accession Year 2002 Object Number 2002.3 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Exhibition History 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/07/2024 - 04/07/2025 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
