Monumental sculpture moving to Naples, Florida

Dawn Forest in the lobby of the Georgia-Pacific Center

Atlanta is losing an important piece of art to the Naples Museum of Art in Florida. The large, multipart installation Dawn Forest by Louise Nevelson has been in the lobby of the Georgia-Pacific Center since 1986. With the company planning on renovating the space, they considered the space with and without the piece, opting for more retail space over the monumental artwork. Promoting Dawn Forest under the stipulation that it must be displayed in one piece, the company fielded inquiries from several Atlanta locations, including the High and the Carlos Museum. However, both declined the opportunity because of space issues. This was not an easy decision for the directors, according to Carlos museum director Bonnie Speed. "That’s well and good for Naples; it’s a loss for Atlanta. It’s distressing to hear it’s leaving Atlanta. It’s unfortunate that we were unable to keep this iconic piece of public art."

Nevelson was an influential female artist in the world of contemporary sculpture and installation art. She often pieced together found wood into compositions connected by the color, either whites or blacks. Dawn Forest is the largest of Nevelson’s art. “Composed of standing columns, some as tall as 25 feet, and vertical hanging pieces, which punctuate the long lobby, as well as an 11-by-26-foot wall relief on the mezzanine,” it has quite a presence in its current location.

When director and founder Myra Daniels of the museum in Naples heard about the availability of Nevelson’s piece, she came to Atlanta right away to see it. “I committed to it on the spot,” Daniels said. “Our collection’s strength is in American modernism, and Nevelson was at the top of our wish list. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” The museum is making space in the reception area to accommodate the sculpture, including moving a Dale Chihuly chandelier. Needless to say, the Naples Museum of Art is very excited about the donation from Georgia-Pacific and MetLife.

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