Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois - French-American sculptor, printmaker, and painter - was born December 25, 1911, in Paris.  Her parents sold and restored antique tapestries.  She often worked with her mother repairing tapestries: washing, mending, sewing, and drawing missing elements.  During this time her father had a long affair with her tutor who lived with the family.  These tensions within the family influenced the artist and her later work.

Bourgeois first studied mathematics and philosophy, but after her mother’s death, she shifted to studying art.  She married Robert Goldwater in 1938 and moved with him to New York City.  She enrolled at the Art Students League and concentrated on printmaking and painting.  In the early 1940’s she began working on sculptures which led to her experimental work with latex, plaster, and rubber in the 1960’s.  She sold her first work to MoMA in 1953 and had numerous exhibitions in galleries in the 1940’s and 1950’s.  In 1982 she was given a retrospective show by MoMA where her work was reappraised.

In 1973 Bourgeois began teaching at Pratt Institute and the Cooper Union and she influenced many younger artists with her thoughts and theories.