The May 1979 cover of ARTnews shows Louise Nevelson at age eighty. This uncropped version of the cover image reveals the location of the shoot—a wall of the Erol Beker Chapel, which Nevelson designed for St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan. Although her work did not gain widespread attention until the late 1950s, when Sky Cathedral was installed in the Museum of Modern Art, Nevelson's her frenetic energy and creative spirit quickly helped her establish herself as a force to be reckoned with in the New York art world. In this photograph we see Nevelson in a dress, belt, and jewelry that echo forms in the wall sculpture behind her. In what seems a tribute to an artist who wanted above all to create environments that offer viewers the space to contemplate, Namuth has revealed a face and a posture that beg the viewer to take pause and reflect.

Hans Namuth (1915–1990)
Cibachrome print, 1977
Published May 1979
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the James Smithson Society
©Hans Namuth Ltd.

Portrait of the Art World: A Century of ARTnews Photographs
National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution

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