The Duchess of Alba by Reuben Nakian (United States, b. 1897)

Reuben Nakian (1897-1986)
The Duchess of Alba, 1959-1960
Welded sheet steel and rod
Museum purchase in memory of Hans de Schulthess
On long-term loan from Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Leadership support for the South Coast Botanic Garden Sculpture Collection was provided by Marilyn Long and Long Family Foundation

For Information Seekers

Reuben Nakian was born in 1897 in College Point, N.Y., to Armenian immigrants. He received his formal training as a sculptor’s apprentice. Nakian was known for rethinking and revising his modes of sculptural expression and exploring and mastering new media, including marble, clay, plaster, metal, paper and, in his later years, styrofoam. He was inspired by the abstract work of Picasso and overall Abstract Expressionism. His early sculptures in marble, wood, and bronze are stylized animals. Nakian’s immersion in Greek mythology served as the primary inspiration of his subject matter for the duration of his career, through the mid-1980s. In mythology, Nakian found a universe of reflection and metaphor. The Smithsonian Institution produced a documentary on his life and work titled “Reuben Nakian: Apprentice to the Gods.”

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