Pepper, Beverly (1924–)

American sculptor and painter. Born Beverly Stoll, Dec 20, 1924, in Brooklyn, NY; Pratt Institute, BA in industrial and advertising design, 1941; attended Art Students League, 1946, and Atelier André Lhote, 1948, and Atelier Fernand Léger, 1949, both in Paris; m. Lawrence Gussin, 1941 (div. 1948); m. Bill Pepper (author and journalist), 1949; children: (1st m.) son; (2nd m.) daughter.

Known for her monumental abstract sculptures and sprawling environmental forms, evolved as a sculptor in her late 30s, after a successful career in advertising and several years as a painter; took up wood sculpture (1960), then welded sculpture (1962); exhibited early welded sculptures in "Sculpture in Metallo" show in Turin (1965) and was selected for Venice Biennale (1972); produced polished stainless steel structures (late 1960s), then triangular forms (1970s); did 1st large environmental project, Land Canal Hillside (1971–74), along center-strip divider of a highway in Dallas, Texas; conceived Amphisculpture (1974–75), an outdoor concrete amphitheater set in grass at AT&T in Bedminister, NJ; exhibited in Houston's "Monumental Sculpture of the Seventies" (1975) and at André Emmerich Gallery in NY; rendered Thel at Dartmouth College (1977); at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, created Sand Dunes (1985); began to create monumental steel columns (late 1980s), which she 1st exhibited in the piazza at Todi, Italy.

See also Women in World History.