Atmosphere and Environment XII is a product of the mature style of Louise Nevelson, one of the most influential artists of the decades following World War II. In the late 1950s, Nevelson conceived of wooden collage "environments," wall-like sculptures painted entirely in one color and incorporating a myriad of abstract forms. Her interest in theater influenced both her concept of sculpture-as-environment and her use of vertical structures resembling stage sets. Atmosphere and Environment XII, made of 18,000 pounds of Corten steel, which gradually weathers to form its own patina, consists of six columns of rectangles bolted together. The rectangles contain within them further geometrical shapes, and the entire openwork composition seems to echo the severe landscape of a modern city. After exhibitions in France and New York, the sculpture was purchased by the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1971 and installed at its present site in 1973. Another example of Nevelson's work in Philadelphia is Bicentennial Dawn.

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).