Leah Berliawsky—later known as Louise Nevelson—was born in 1899, in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire, now present-day Ukraine. Her family soon migrated to the United States, where they spoke Yiddish at home; young Leah learned English in school. She became a stenographer, married the well-to-do businessman Charles Nevelson, and began taking art classes. A student of Hans Hofmann and Chaim Gross, she experimented with conceptual media, creating sculptures out of found materials and wood. In 1941, Nevelson divorced Charles and also had her first solo exhibition. When she died in 1988, she was one of America’s most important sculptors. In Ascona, Nevelson collages, sculptural assemblages, and early drawings are on view. —Elena Clavarino