On Thursday, March 25, the Farnsworth Art Museum will present an online lecture by writer, art historian, and psychoanalyst Laurie Wilson entitled “Empress of the Environment: Louise Nevelson at a Crossroad.” The talk will take place on Zoom, from 2-3 p.m.

After two decades of creating celebrated wood sculptures, in 1965-1966 Nevelson turned to new materials, at first plastic and then metal. She also shifted from making work to be seen indoors to creating sculpture to be seen outdoors and began to title her works “Atmospheres” and “Environments.”

Already seen as one of the Abstract Expressionists her new work qualified her as a Minimalist artist - a little recognized fact. Despite the transformation of her style, Nevelson's work was always distinctively her own. 

Wilson is a psychoanalyst, art historian, and art therapist. She earned her undergraduate degree in art history from Wellesley College, her master’s degree in fine arts and fine arts education from Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in art history from City University of New York. She received psychoanalytic training at The NYU Psychoanalytic Institute and is on the faculty at PANY affiliated with NYU School of Medicine. She has published extensively in three fields. Her book Alberto Giacometti: Myth, Magic and the Manwas published by Yale University Press in 2003 and her biography, “Louise Nevelson: Light and Shadow,” was published by Thames & Hudson in Fall 2016.

The lecture is free for Farnsworth members. For non-members, there is a $10 fee. For more information or to register, please visit www.farnsworthmuseum.org