Elizabeth de Cuevas

Elizabeth de Cuevas (also known by the moniker Strong-Cuevas) (January 22, 1929 – March 19, 2023) was a French-born American sculptor born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She was known for her monumental sculpture work.

Early life and education
De Cuevas was born to Margaret Strong (a grandchild of John D. Rockefeller) and George de Cuevas, a Chilean ballet promoter. She was raised in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, Florence, Italy and New York City.

She studied sculpture at the Art Students League of New York, with instructor John Hovannes, who encouraged her to carve.

Career
She worked under the moniker Strong-Cuevas (not using her first name). Early in her career she became known for producing figurative sculptures of large heads, many of which were in profile. Later her highly abstract, cubistic and totemic works consisted of human faces rendered from multiple angles.

Her early work involved stone and wood carving. In the 1970s she became associated with Marcel (Toto) Meylan who assisted her in developing her work on a monumental scale and cast works in stainless steel and bronze. Some of these were produced at Tallix Foundry (later Polich Tallix).

Starting in the late 1970s de Cuevas widely exhibited her work at galleries and museums, and public art venues such as Grounds for Sculpture, where several of her works are in their permanent collection.

Her influences included physics and spiritual concepts. She wrote of her work, "I am trying to show the underlying unity of minds. In my negative spaces, I am showing spirit beyond matter, idea before material form.”

Collections
De Cuevas' work is held in the permanent collections of Grounds for Sculpture, Guild Hall, the Bruce Museum, the Heckscher Museum of Art, the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, among other venues.

Personal life
De Cuevas married Joel Carmichael, a writer, in 1960. The couple had a daughter.

Legacy
Two monographs on her work have been published by Abrams, and a documentary was produced on her life and work in 2002, and a sequel to the film premiered in 2021.