Le journal de Louise B. (Hors collection) (French Edition)

My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother. One must see them in person to feel their impact.

They are not threatening or protecting, but bring out the depths of anxiety within you. Bachelard's findings from psychologists' tests show that an anxious child will draw a tall narrow house with no base. Bourgeois's printmaking flourished during the early and late phases of her career: Early on, she made prints at home on a small press, or at the renowned workshop Atelier That period was followed by a long hiatus, as Bourgeois turned her attention fully to sculpture. It was not until she was in her seventies that she began to make prints again, encouraged first by print publishers.

She set up her old press, and added a second, while also working closely with printers who came to her house to collaborate. A very active phase of printmaking followed, lasting until the artist's death.

MoMA | Louise Bourgeois: The Complete Prints & Books | Chronology

Over the course of her life, Bourgeois created approximately 1, printed compositions. In , Bourgeois decided to donate the complete archive of her printed work to The Museum of Modern Art.

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• LOUISE BOURGEOIS: THE COMPLETE PRINTS & BOOKS?
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One theme of Bourgeois's work is that of childhood trauma and hidden emotion. After Louise's mother became sick with influenza Louise's father began having affairs with other women, most notably with Sadie, Louise's English tutor. Louise was extremely watchful and aware of the situation. This was the beginning of the artist's engagement with double standards related to gender and sexuality, which was expressed in much of her work. She recalls her father saying "I love you" repeatedly to her mother, despite infidelity.

You Better Grow Up", part of her "Cell" series, speaks directly to Louise's childhood trauma and the insecurity that surrounded her. This dilemma is not only represented by the shape of the sculpture, but also the heaviness of the material this piece is made of. Architecture and memory are important components of Bourgeois's work. In numerous interviews, Louise describes architecture as a visual expression of memory, or memory as a type of architecture. The memory which is featured in much of her work is an invented memory - about the death or exorcism of her father.

The imagined memory is interwoven with her real memories including living across from a slaughterhouse and her father's affair. To Louise her father represented injury and war, aggrandizement of himself and belittlement of others and most importantly a man who represented betrayal. The mirrors within the present an altered and distorted reality. Sexuality is undoubtedly one of the most important themes in the work of Louise Bourgeois. The link between sexuality and fragility or insecurity is also powerful. It has been argued that this stems from her childhood memories and her father's affairs.

The flexing leg and arm muscles indicate that the Spiral Woman is still above though she is being suffocated and hung. The spiral in her work demonstrates the dangerous search for precarious equilibrium, accident-free permanent change, disarray, vertigo, whirlwind. There lies the simultaneously positive and negative, both future and past, breakup and return, hope and vanity, plan and memory. Louise Bourgeois's work is powered by confessions, self-portraits, memories, fantasies of a restless being who is seeking through her sculpture a peace and an order which were missing throughout her childhood.

Tracey Emin is an English artist who is famous for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Being a very multifaceted artist, she include in her work drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and sewing. Tracey Emin met Louis Bourgeois at the end of nineties in an interesting project due to both were invited by the Swiss critic Hans Ulrich Obrist for DO IT a project in which artists respond to the instructions of artists from an earlier generation and this was the beginning of a great relationship between them.

This collaboration took place over a span of two years with British artist Tracey Emin. The work was exhibited in London months after Bourgeois's death in The subject matter consists of male and female images. Although they appear sexual, it portrays a tiny female figure paying homage to a giant male figure, like a God. Louise Bourgeois did the water colors and Tracey Emin did the drawing on top. It took Emin two years to decide how to figure out what she would contribute in the collaboration.

When she knew what to do, she finished all of the drawings in a day and believes every single one worked out perfectly. Bourgeois had to bury her son as a parent. Abandonment for her is not only about losing her mother but her son as well. Despite the age gap between the two artists and differences in their work, the collaboration worked out gently and easily. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the artist. For the midwife, see Louise Bourgeois Boursier. Manhattan , New York City, U. List of artworks by Louise Bourgeois.

New York, New York. Retrieved 2 June Retrieved 4 February The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June Retrieved 12 June Archived from the original on 16 August The Return of the Repressed".

Archived from the original on 14 March Retrieved 7 March The Art Story Foundation. Louise Bourgeois at Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin. Feminism, poetics and the effects of psychoanalysis Rotunda Magazine". Retrieved 15 October Retrieved 12 January The shape of a child's torment".

Names in rape cases that need to be named". Archived from the original on 29 June Retrieved 29 October Archived from the original on 20 May Retrieved 9 June Archived from the original on 3 June Retrieved 1 May Retrieved 11 January People Weekly Special Collectors ed. Archived from the original on 10 April Retrieved 30 April The National Gallery of Canada.

Retrieved 21 January Women Without Secrets - Secret Knowledge". Retrieved 6 March Archived from the original on 19 January Retrieved 24 January The Return of The Repressed". A Woman Without Secrets". Retrieved 4 April Archived from the original on 3 March Retrieved 3 March I Have Been to Hell and Back".

Retrieved 18 August Retrieved 23 June To Unravel a Torment". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 25, Retrieved 4 March Archived from the original on 10 August Retrieved 20 November Retrieved 3 January Post-war artists at auction". Retrieved 25 May Women Who Transformed Contemporary Art. Women Artists at the Millennium. American Abstract Expressionism of the s: He was her obsession; all her efforts were for him. He was at one and the same time her child and her master. She wrote of him as "my king, my lord, my Caesar, my son. No one challenged Louise in her position as regent.

Her influence over Francis was acknowledged, accepted by all, resented by many. However, all the evidence indicates that her ambition was selfless and that, as regent, she gained and retained the confidence of many of the prominent men in France. Her endeavors were always for Francis and for his rights as king.

She never took any decision or implemented any action without first consulting him and obtaining his consent, even when he was imprisoned in Spain and it meant a delay of several weeks. This was a ploy that could be used to effect if necessary, since he rarely contradicted her. Louise of Savoy's critics have sought to denigrate her achievements with accusations of avarice and immorality.

She was certainly careful with her income and practiced economy in her expenditure, but her money was always at the disposal of her son.

Louise Bourgeois

At her death, the money for her funeral had to come from Francis as she herself had none. The letters of this same daughter, whose reputation for integrity was renowned, are a better guide to Louise's conduct during and after the regency years than are the carping writings of Louise's discontented male contemporaries. Her journal and a small collection of poems are exceptions. The former is a curious document compiled and completed by herself in from jottings she had made during earlier years.

It is in no way a diary but rather a record of those events which she regarded as important. Louise was, as were many of her contemporaries, very superstitious and stated that the journal was to be used for astrological prognostications. Thus it records not only the date but the hour and minute these events occurred. The journal is, for the same reason, arranged monthly rather than chronologically, recalling all the events that took place in a particular month irrespective of the year, for example, in January her husband died and her son succeeded to the throne of France The events selected for the journal relate to herself, to her family, or to prominent persons whose fortunes were pertinent to Francis' success.

There is very little about herself, except for her illnesses, and nothing at all about her daughter. It does, however, bear witness to the depth of her affection for Francis and her hopes and fears for him. Louise was well-educated, with a particular interest in books and learning, and took as her motto libris et liberis for books and for children. She was a pious woman with orthodox religious beliefs, who was offended by outrages against holy shrines and relics.

She had some sympathy for those who looked for reforms within the church, but she could never support any changes that might have undermined her son's authority as the absolute monarch. The strain of official duties took its toll on her health, for, if Francis was happy and all was well, then so was Louise, but if he was ill or in trouble, she fell ill, often seriously.

Throughout her life, she suffered from gout and allied kidney disorders which were to cause her death at the age of 55 years, but she never let her illnesses prevent her from serving her king and country or caring for her son and his children. She recorded the event in her own words: Although Savoy was a vast and splendid duchy, Philip had no lands of his own and had had to fend for himself. He had become a cruel, greedy, and often violent man.

He was frequently away from home on business or, more probably, indulging himself in his favorite pastimes of women and sport. He succeeded to the dukedom of Savoy in and died a year later. Margaret of Bourbon was continually ailing and died of "ulceration of the lungs" when Louise was seven years old. But, although she may have been lonely and deprived, her kinship with the greater dynastic families of France ensured that she was not forgotten.

When her mother died in , Louise was sent by her father to live in the household of her aunt and uncle, Pierre and Anne of Beaujeu. Anne of Beaujeu was a cold, calculating woman having a character much in common with that of her father, known as the "Spider King" because of his political machinations. Though she was named as joint regent with her husband, it was well understood that it was Anne who governed.

She was, however, a woman of principle and high moral standards who did her duty by Louise even if she did not show her any affection. Louise did not suffer therefore from lack of moral guidance or for material comforts, for Anne saw that she was well trained and that she was dressed according to her status. Her father, true to character, continually failed to pay for her upkeep. Unloved and, for the most part, ignored, Louise learned those lessons that would serve her so well in the future. It was here too that she first met Margaret of Austria, who would marry her brother, Philibert, and with whom she would negotiate the Peace of Cambrai in Louise brought very little by way of land or money to the marriage.

Her father donated 35, livres, but only after she had renounced any claim to her parents' estates. The king gave the couple the small lordship of Melle-in-Poitou as security for a promised 20, livres. Despite the disparity in their ages, the marriage was a reasonably happy one. Charles, although cousin to Louis of Orleans, later Louis XII , had no political aspirations; he was an easygoing, relatively weak man who demanded little of Louise. They lived in the castle of Cognac in the center of Charles' domain, together with Charles' two mistresses, Antoinette of Polignac and Jeanne Comte , and their children by Charles.

Showing a maturity beyond her years, Louise befriended the women, leaving Jeanne to carry on managing the household and later to become the guardian of her own children, and making Antoinette her companion. They were to remain in Louise's household for the rest of their lives, moving with her to Amboise in , despite the overt disapproval of such an unorthodox arrangement by, among others, the pious Anne of Brittany c. The caring side of Louise's nature is demonstrated by the fact that she did so provide for her husband's mistresses and their illegitimate children, Madeleine and Jeanne of Polignac and Souverain Comte , and took pains to see that they were placed advantageously.

Marriages were arranged for Jeanne with the lord of Aubin and for Souverain with the lord of Chailly; Madeleine became the abbess of Farmoutier. The court at Cognac, though smaller then that at Paris, was just as glittering, and attracted many leading exponents of the arts. Charles was well known as a patron of painting and literature, and he had followed the example of his ancestors in building up a splendid library. Among those he encouraged was Robert Testard, a talented illuminator of manuscripts. Louise is depicted in some of his works, for example, in Echecs Amoureux which Testard illuminated for the count and his wife.

In one particularly striking miniature, entitled La Musique , Louise is seen seated on a double-headed swan, a potent mother-symbol. Although her husband was unfaithful to her, this was a time of relative peace and happiness for Louise. She amused herself with music and books far away from the intrigues and stresses of court life.

She gave birth to two children, Margaret, on April 11, , and Francis, two years later, on September 12, This idyllic lifestyle came to an end in January when Charles died of pneumonia after a month of patient and tender nursing by Louise. In his will, Charles appointed Louise tutor and guardian to the children, with all his goods and chattels going to them.

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The appointment was immediately challenged by Charles' nearest male relatives on the grounds that Louise, at 19, was under the minimum legal age for guardianship, which was Louise opposed them by invoking a local custom of the Angoumois which fixed the age of guardianship at The dispute was submitted to the high court and a compromise was reached. In effect, this meant that although she had won her first victory in the battle to have sole responsibility for her son, Louise could not transact any business without the duke's consent.

More important, if she were to remarry, she would lose the custody of the children and their property. Louise did not remarry. The rest of her life was dedicated to her son.

Louise of Savoy (1476–1531)

Anne de Lusignan; Anne of Cyprus. Born before ; possibly daughter of John II, king of Cyprus r. Charlotte of Savoy c. The succession to the French crown was governed by the Salic Law, which excluded females. Thus, if a monarch died without a male heir, the succession passed to his nearest male relative.

His heir was Louis of Orleans, second cousin and now honorary guardian of Francis. Louis was married to Jeanne de France c. She was a poor creature, childless, and variously described as either deformed or extremely ugly. Francis was at this time second in the line of succession. In January , Louis divorced Jeanne de France, citing her inability to bear children, and married Anne, the young duchess of Brittany, who at the age of 22 could be expected to produce a son. For the next 15 years, Louise's life was punctuated by periods of acute anxiety during Anne of Brittany 's frequent pregnancies relieved by short periods of joy when the expected child was a daughter or a stillborn son.

Her journal records one such birth, "Anne, queen of France, gave birth to a son on 21 January but he was unable to prevent the exultation of my Caesar, for he was stillborn. From , Francis, having already been created the duke of Valois, was designated Monsieur le Dauphin.

Louise of Savoy (1476–1531)

These years were not easy for Louise. Apart from the anxieties created by the queen's pregnancies, Louise had other battles to fight in her determination to have complete control of the upbringing of her son. In , the king had ordered her to move her entire household to Amboise so that Francis would be nearer the royal court. Her opposition was soundly based, for, with Claude's pedigree, healthy sons could hardly be guaranteed and Louise desired only the best for Francis; and, moreover, if Anne of Brittany were to have a son, Francis, married to Claude, would not be in a position to make a more advantageous marriage elsewhere.

Anne of Brittany, mother of Claude and acknowledged rival and enemy of Louise, was equally opposed to the match, but for different reasons. She wanted to preserve the independence of Brittany and favored an alliance between her daughter and Charles, the young grandson of Maximilian I, the Holy Roman emperor.

However, despite her overt dislike of Louise, on her death in , Anne entrusted Louise with the guardianship of Claude and the administration of her lands; presumably she realized that Claude could not be in safer hands than those of Louise. With the court still in mourning for the queen, the marriage was a somber occasion with the bride and groom dressed in black cloth. Louise did not attend. Claude and Francis were to be as happy as any royal couple. Their marriage lasted for ten years, during which Claude gave birth to eight children.

Louise's fears had been unfounded since these included three sons. Two daughters, Louise and Charlotte, died in childhood; the rest lived to adulthood. Claude de France died in , as quietly as she had lived, shortly after Francis had departed for Italy. Louise is said to have collapsed on hearing the news. Anne of Brittany's death had appeared to leave the way open for Francis' accession to the French monarchy. Louis had declared in his grief that he would shortly follow his wife to the grave, but suddenly in August he announced his betrothal to Mary Tudor — , the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England.

They were married in October but by the end of the year Louis was dead. Louise's son was now the king of France. Louise gave thanks to "Divine Mercy, by which I am amply compensated for all the adversities and annoyances which came to me in my early years and in the flower of my youth. For the most part, he confirmed the positions of those in office under Louis XII, thus ensuring a continuity of government.