Louise Bourgeois in 1990, behind her marble sculpture Eye to Eye (1970) (Photo Raimon Ramis)
Louise Bourgeois is hard to place in my personal inspiration taxonomy. I have been aware of her for most of my art-making life, but I never had the deep connection to her work that I have had with the pack of painters who were my early heroes. But respect? I have always had lots of that, for who she was and how she approached her art. And as for prolific, Bourgeois’ output has been superhuman, ranging from prints to works in wood, stone, steel, fabric and rubber. Her work possesses a rawness that is organic and can at times feel almost aggressive. But an underlying leitmotif carries through her life’s work: the human body in all of its personal peculiarity and raw vulnerability.
She brandished a style of feminist outrage that focused primarily on her own personal life story, and her approach to her autobiographical material was unique in the art world of the 70s and 80s. She was so French! Her work was not strident. Instead she could be seductively coy as well as blatantly over the top. Like Rothko who vehemently rejected any tag of “spiritual” to his signatory work, Bourgeois refused to claim sexuality as her intent. But the sexuality of her work is rampant. When she did her legendary photo shoot with Robert Mapplethorpe she was photographed in a black coat of monkey fur with a prop under her arm. To our eye it was a giant penis and balls, but she insisted that the black latex sculpture was her “little girl.” All of this of course while she is smiling so mischievously. That was Louise.
Mapplethorpe’s portrait of Louise
One of my favorite quotes from her (and I cannot remember who originally shared this with me) has been a keeper. In speaking to the art students at one of the New York City art schools, her advice to them was to make their art as true to their authentic expression as can be regardless of the trends in art at the time. “Then rent some warehouse space in Long Island and put the work away for 10 or 20 years. The rest of the world may catch up with your vision, but you need to be patient.” This story was particularly memorable since she did not achieve her own well deserved success until very late in her life.
Some of her works delight me, some are actually quite repulsive. And some are just a bit ho hum, like the giant spider series that made her extremely well known in her later years. But her tenacious energy, playful coyness and inventiveness have never been seen in that combination before. She is a force of nature that will be missed.
Cumul I (1968). (Photograph: HO/Associated Press)
From Jonathan Jones’ eulogy: “Bourgeois claimed she saw no sexual forms in this teeming nest of, er, sexual forms. (Artists don’t always have to make sense.) The whiteness of marble creates an ethereal, cloud-like quality: hence the title.
Kudos to the Guardian (absolutely, without question, the best art coverage overall in a major newspaper) for running so many eulogies. Here’s a sampling from their site plus a few others:
Jonathan Jones in the Guardian
Michael McNay in the Guardian
Adrian Searle in the Guardian
Holland Cotter in the New York Times
Suzanne Muchnic in the Los Angeles Times
My favorite quotation of Louise Bourgeois: “I have been to hell and back, and let me tell you, it was wonderful.”
I also love the title of her first big spider piece: Maman.
I have nothing but respect for the way she chose to live her life.
this is awesome. enough said.
Sal, great quote! Thanks for the added value.
Desiree, indeed. Thanks for stopping by.
I have to say, in the meaning I am glad to say, the sculpture of Louise Bourgeois, I think her origin is french, is particularly originally, and the design of her sculpures are avveniristic and at the same time they are traditionally. “Forma and eleganza” are the two major attribute of this
artist, but also the sculpture are pure and “candid”. Louise don’t want to surprise the visitor, she wants the approach him before being appreciated.
Paolo Campidori – Cultura Mugellana
Fiesole (Firenze), 2 giugno 2010
Good Job’s thank you
“Tips dan Trik Dunia Internet”
Fantastic artist!!!
[…] as a member of one’s “taxonomy” is unique, to say the least. But then again, Louise Bourgeois wasn’t run of the mill, […]
What a wonderful artist. I had studied her briefly while in graduate school but was amazed at the scope of her work while reading some online tributes to her. Thanks too, for posting the Mapplethorpe photo of her, that was so great! Coy, yet clever too, kind of like her own art 🙂
What a great post!
It was amazing reading about her.
I saw a lot of her sculpture at Storm King, as well as a wonderful documentary that was showing there. The story of her father’s affair with her tutor remained potent years after, as did her telling of working in the family business and taking up art. The last big show of her work that I recall seeing was at the Hirshhorn.
The Mapplethorpe image just cracks me up.
I think she had many stories to tell and she told many through her art. It’s the ones she might have taken with her, though, that leave me wondering.
I like her statement, “Sometimes it is necessary to make a confrontation–and I like that.”
I absolutely love art 21’s documentary on her.
A long time ago, the New York Times magazine ran a piece on her and her home, a brownstone in Chelsea. She had written her name, in that French way, where the first name is lower case and the last name is all upper case, on a spot on the back of her house, as a way of welcoming her friends to her weekly salon. I have had it in my scrapbook for years. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be a woman artist in the early years of her career. She is extraordinary and a beacon for all who have come after her.
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[…] Bourgeois’ passing has set the ripples in motion in every direction. After my eulogizing post about her work and her life yesterday, I was even more curious about the stories about her that […]
What an original!
[…] textiles and tapestry restoration. Don’t you think they look a lot like spider webs? Louise Bourgeois died in 2010 of heart failure at the age of 98. It is reported that she continued working up until a week before her death. What a […]