The Song of the Blacks and Blues, 1989-1996
Gouache, crayon, and oil stick
53.5 x 244 cm

artist profile

Louise Bourgeois

education

The Sorbonne, Paris, France, 1935
École du Louvre, Paris, France, 1935–36 

Atelier Roger Bissière de l’Académie Ranson, 1936–37 

Académie d‘Espagnat, 1936–37 

École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, 1936–38 

Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris, France, 1937–38 

Académie Julian, Paris, France, 1938 

Académie Scandinavie, 1938 


about the artist

1911–2010

Born: Paris, France
Died: New York, USA

Louise Bourgeois was a brave artist, endlessly baring her trauma, insecurity, and vulnerability before her audience. In creating her works she sought order, and from that, refuge and solace, through imposing her meticulous geometries, colors, and materials. Her expansive oeuvre traverses a spectrum of themes that range from childhood memories to domestic architecture, sexual complexes to hidden fears. During her lifetime, Bourgeois was bestowed with a great many honors; these include becoming a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in New York, USA; Officier at L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in Paris, France; and fellow for life at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. She was also awarded the Golden Lion at the 1999 Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy. Over the years, solo exhibitions of her work have been held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, USA; the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain; the Serpentine Gallery in London, UK; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain; and many others. Louise Bourgeois: Retrospective took place over the course of 2007 and 2008, and traveled to the Tate Modern in London, UK; the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, USA; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, USA; and the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., USA.

  • Selected exhibition history
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Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA

American Craft Museum, New York, USA

Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia

Baltimore Museum of Art, U.S.A

Battery Park City Authority for the Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, New York, USA

Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, Paris, France

British Museum, London, UK

Brooklyn Museum, USA

Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, USA

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Cleveland Museum of Art, USA

Denver Art Museum, USA

Des Moines Art Center, USA

Detroit Institute of the Arts, USA

Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, USA

Grafische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna, Austria

Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Hakone Open-Air Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., USA

Jane Addams Park, Chicago, USA

Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France

Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, USA

Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland

Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland

Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, USA

Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Austria

Musée d’art Contemporain de Montreal, Canada

Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy

Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., USA

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria, Australia

New Orleans Museum of Art, USA

New York Public Library, USA

New York University, USA

Olympic Park, Seoul, South Korea

Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, USA

Portland Museum of Art, USA

Saint Louis Art Museum, USA

Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, USA

Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, USA

Tate Modern, London, UK

The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA

Tokyo International Forum Art Work Project, Tokyo, Japan

Tuileries, Paris, France

Uffizi Museum, Florence, Italy

Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA

Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, USA

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA

Worcester Art Museum, USA

Ydessa Hendeles Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada