Branford Interview on Louise Nevelson and The Welders of Lippincott
Branford, CT (July 10, 2019) - Maria Nevelson, granddaughter of the famed American sculptor Louise Nevelson, came to Branford in June, to the home of artist Susan Farricielli, to interview Edward Giza, Huey Gaddy and Farricielli, who were some of the Louise Nevelson welders who worked with her grandmother at the Lippincott facility in North Haven.
Louise Nevelson née Leah Berliawsky, was born in 1899 in Pereyaslav, Ukraine. Due to the anti-Jewish pogroms happening during her early childhood, her family immigrated to Rockland, Maine. Her parents encouraged her artistic inclinations and Louise excelled in the arts at school.
Right after high school, she met Charles Nevelson and soon married in 1920. They settled in NYC and she gave birth to their only child Mike Nevelson (1922-2019). Unhappy with the restrictions of married life, they eventually divorced. Nevelson was free to whole-heartedly pursue her passion for sculpture and she became one of the most famous sculptors of her era.
Her works are known nationally and internationally, and many of her large-scale metal sculptures were fabricated in North Haven, Connecticut, on Sackett Point Road at a unique sculpture facility known as Lippincott.
Nevelson passed away in 1988. Her abstract monochromatic wooden sculpture assemblages filled rooms as a total experience, making her one of the pioneers of environmental sculpture installations.
Known as the "Grand Dame" of American sculpture, her persona was just as captivating as her artwork. She wore layered clothes, full-length fur coats, ornate ethnic accessories, and her signature multilayered mink eyelashes. Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee wrote a play about his dear friend, "Occupant", with the artist and a journalist bantering about her legacy now that she passed away.
Another play, "Embers", by Catherine Gropper, reveals some of Nevelson's struggles as a female artist during a time when the art world was predominated by men. Books about the artist include one based on taped conversations with her assistant, Diane MacKown in Dawns+Dusks (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976); Louise Nevelson by Arnold B. Glimcher (Praeger Publishers, 1972); Louise Nevelson: Atmospheres and Environments published by the Whitney Museum of American Art (1980), with captivating photographs of the artist by Pedro Guerrero; and most recently, Louise Nevelson: Light and Shadow by Laurie Wilson (Thames & Hudson 2016).
The Louise Nevelson Foundation (www.louisenevelsonfoundation.org) was established by Maria Nevelson in 2005 to collect, archive and preserve the history of this great American woman artist.
Maria Nevelson came to Branford in June to the home of artist Susan Farricielli, to interview Edward Giza, Huey Gaddy and Farricielli, who were some of the Louise Nevelson welders who worked with her grandmother at the Lippincott facility. An artist herself immersed in a family of artists, Maria Nevelson once lived in New Haven during the time her mother, Florence Nevelson, studied at art Southern Connecticut State University with the sculptor Michael Skop.
The Lippincott factory built the sculptures of many world-renown artists. The book, Large Scale, by Jonathan Lippincott (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010), gives a historical overview of this unique establishment that made large-scale modern art in Connecticut from 1966 until they closed their factory doors in 1994. Lippincott welders consisted of 8-10 men (including one woman, Farricielli) who were the hands of the artist. These technicians worked closely with the artists, knowing each of their particular preferences and the special way they wanted to have their works made. Edward Giza was the shop manager who, with his brother Robert Giza, were hired by Lippincott early on. With their ingenuity for craft, anything was possible.
Edward Giza stayed with the company until Lippincott closed their factory doors in 1994. After that he opened his own fabrication shop, making furniture and architectural designs in metal. Huey Gaddy was later hired. When Lippincott closed, he also opened his own shop, continuing to make metal sculptures for artists as well as his own artwork before moving to the Washington DC area. Susan Farricielli had the shortest stint at Lippincott—just under 4 years. She has continued to pursue sculpture and industrial design receiving a National Endowment for the Arts Design Award among several others for her innovative wheelchair design.
The fabrication of large-scale metal sculpture is a unique craft and skill set. Maquettes (small models of the sculptures) or drawings are typically presented. With the assistance of a structural engineer and the experienced craftsmen, the works are carefully scaled up generally for installation in public places. In the case of Louise Nevelson, she sometimes created her sculptures directly from scraps of metal with the
help of the Lippincott crew. Some of the sculptures were painted. Other were left in the bare material, such as Cor-Ten steel. Nevelson's sculpture, Atmosphere and Environment XI built in 1971, was made from Cor-Ten steel and is in the permanent collection of Yale University Art Gallery, in New Haven. It is located on Chapel Street in front of Street Hall.
The oral history told by the Welders of Lippincott and their personal experiences working with Louise Nevelson was made possible by the Louise Nevelson Foundation. The interviews reveal the special relationship between the artist and her fabricators. Nevelson had great respect for her craftsmen. Yale Art History PhD graduate student, Michelle Connelly, conducted the interviews along with Maria Nevelson. The recordings will be stored with the Archives of American Art. If any other welders of Lippincott would like to share their stories about working with Louise Nevelson, they should contact the Louise Nevelson Foundation at info@louisenevelsonfoundation.org (www.louisenevelsonfoundation.org).