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Louise Bourgeois: Art to Read Series
The recently deceased French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) was one of the most important artists of the last century. Her fleshy blobs, skeletal spiders and the aggressive fragility of her work offered a new solution to the antagonism between the figurative and the abstract that had previously been part and parcel of modernism. Bourgeois herself provided a unique interpretive level to modern art through the uses she made of childhood trauma, family life and sexuality. This accessible study serves as both an ideal introduction to the central themes of the late artist’s oeuvre and as a commemoration of her one-hundredth birthday. Over the course of nine chapters, it examines her life, her exploration of the works of other artists and the transformation of her emotions into such works of art as the now iconic pieces “Destruction of the Father,” “Fillette,” “Cells” and “Maman.”
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 24, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 17, 2019
Imagine being a woman artist who begins building her artistic career in the 1940s, an era when women artists were even more underrepresented and disrespected than they are today. Then imagine rising above the odds and becoming recognized as an important figure in modern and contemporary art. Then imagine living til you're 98 years old, creating art your entire life! Then imagine some dude writing a book about your life and being kinda sexist about it.
No one deserves sexist nonsense, but poor Louise REALLY did not deserve any sexist nonsense. Yet here we are on page 15, where the author comments that the art gallery Bourgeois opened in Paris when she was 27 years old was designed as "a trap with which Louise caught her future husband." Then on page 55 the author informs us that "we must imagine [Louise Bourgeois] as being very pretty" as we consider her early career. And on page 64 he decides that a question that Bourgeois posed to her male contemporaries about creation was "a deliberate provocation" to them because thinking about creation is "typical for a woman and mother." In the next paragraph he mentions that she "increasingly became an outsider in the years that followed" because her ideas were not "regarded as being particularly important." He doesn't seem to make the connection that that had anything to do with misogyny, or that misogyny might be the reason that from 1953-1964, she didn't have a single solo show.
This book did give me a small glimpse into the life of Louise Bourgeois and I want to learn more, but I am really surprised and disappointed at the ways in which it managed to sell this incredible artist terribly short.
No one deserves sexist nonsense, but poor Louise REALLY did not deserve any sexist nonsense. Yet here we are on page 15, where the author comments that the art gallery Bourgeois opened in Paris when she was 27 years old was designed as "a trap with which Louise caught her future husband." Then on page 55 the author informs us that "we must imagine [Louise Bourgeois] as being very pretty" as we consider her early career. And on page 64 he decides that a question that Bourgeois posed to her male contemporaries about creation was "a deliberate provocation" to them because thinking about creation is "typical for a woman and mother." In the next paragraph he mentions that she "increasingly became an outsider in the years that followed" because her ideas were not "regarded as being particularly important." He doesn't seem to make the connection that that had anything to do with misogyny, or that misogyny might be the reason that from 1953-1964, she didn't have a single solo show.
This book did give me a small glimpse into the life of Louise Bourgeois and I want to learn more, but I am really surprised and disappointed at the ways in which it managed to sell this incredible artist terribly short.
Read
September 18, 2022by far the most interesting parts were the quotes from bourgeois herself - be it on her views on her art, her relationship with other artists and her writings in general. couldve done without the sexism disguised as analysis on the authors part<3
January 3, 2018
What a nice introduction to Bourgeois’ world. Enjoyed every paragraph. Translator to English must also have done a good job of not hurting the text/ fabric of the book while translating it.
January 19, 2020
A nice introductory text to Louise Bourgeois’ work and life 🕷 - great images - the best parts are the quotes from her or the excerpts from her journals.
February 9, 2020
Interesting book. I discovered the artist and learned a few things. Unfortunately it didn't give me any motivation to learn more about her, or to go see her art.
August 11, 2012
"'A l'infini' (until infinity) represents...the passage of time, how life is a continuous thread and a path to be navigated: there are many routes and one may be lost along the way."
Kuster is speaking of a series of print/paintings created by Louise Bourgeios near the end of her life, but, as he notes, they are also a reflection of the "enormous diversity" and the path of her entire body of work as well.
I knew Bourgeois through her textile art, and there are some great examples in this exhibit, including "The Waiting Hours", a blue series created in 2007. Kuster notes that many are only familiar with the artist because of her large spider sculpture, "Maman", which I also knew of and admired. As a sculptor she flirted with the New York School in her early years, but ultimately the male-centric group was not welcoming, and she mostly worked in obscurity for the rest of her life. In a way, this helped her growth as an artist, as it gave her room to learn and explore without trying to fulfill the expectations of The Art World.
Kuster's concise essays accompanying this 2011 exhibit at the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland manage to give in a few well-illustrated words a clear impression of Bourgeois and also expanded my view of the artist. The exhibit juxtaposed Bourgeois' work with that of her contemporaries--Fernand Leger, Cezanne, Barnett Newman, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Giacometti--and reinforced the corsscurrents that bind even very different artists working in the same cultural climate.
Growing up in a family of tapestry restorers, Bourgeois certainly had a foundation for using textiles in her work. She combines them and sculpts them, but she uses many other materials as well, in both 2- and 3-dimensions, from wood to paint and found objects to cages and steel.
And throughout her life she also wrote poetic notes to herself.
Saved by the needle: no pins
no stapler.
no tape.
no glue.
An extraordinary woman.
And this book is a little jewel.
Kuster is speaking of a series of print/paintings created by Louise Bourgeios near the end of her life, but, as he notes, they are also a reflection of the "enormous diversity" and the path of her entire body of work as well.
I knew Bourgeois through her textile art, and there are some great examples in this exhibit, including "The Waiting Hours", a blue series created in 2007. Kuster notes that many are only familiar with the artist because of her large spider sculpture, "Maman", which I also knew of and admired. As a sculptor she flirted with the New York School in her early years, but ultimately the male-centric group was not welcoming, and she mostly worked in obscurity for the rest of her life. In a way, this helped her growth as an artist, as it gave her room to learn and explore without trying to fulfill the expectations of The Art World.
Kuster's concise essays accompanying this 2011 exhibit at the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland manage to give in a few well-illustrated words a clear impression of Bourgeois and also expanded my view of the artist. The exhibit juxtaposed Bourgeois' work with that of her contemporaries--Fernand Leger, Cezanne, Barnett Newman, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Giacometti--and reinforced the corsscurrents that bind even very different artists working in the same cultural climate.
Growing up in a family of tapestry restorers, Bourgeois certainly had a foundation for using textiles in her work. She combines them and sculpts them, but she uses many other materials as well, in both 2- and 3-dimensions, from wood to paint and found objects to cages and steel.
And throughout her life she also wrote poetic notes to herself.
Saved by the needle: no pins
no stapler.
no tape.
no glue.
An extraordinary woman.
And this book is a little jewel.
Read
January 30, 2017An enjoyable essay/biography of Louise Bourgeois, I'll see if I can read some more by Ulf Kuster.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews