Rare Photographs Of Louise Bourgeois Show The Artist In Her Home And Studio

Louise Bourgeois with 'Maman,' Brooklyn (photo © Jean-François Jaussaud / Art: © The Easton Foundation)

Jean-François Jaussaud, Louise Bourgeois with Maman, Brooklyn

by Maria Sofou

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) has been one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. In a career spanning over 70 years, she produced a brilliant body of work which was heavily emotionally charged – her deeply complex creations mainly own a personal thematic content that involves a wide range of experiences : from traumatic psychological events from her childhood, specifically her father’s infidelity, to her relationship with her mother. Bourgeois’ own visual language, using abstract form and a wide variety of media, discusses themes such as the unconsious, the female and male body, sexual desire, betrayal, loneliness and anger in a way so intense that can crush the viewer. Her precious legacy has not only inspired generations of artists but most importantly female artists in a male-dominated art world.

French photographer Jean-François Jaussaud spent 11 years photographing Bourgeois both at home and her studio, creating an intimate visual record of the artist who -unlike others- was rarely photographed. The collection features Bourgeois lounging in her plain Chelsea home, in her Brooklyn studio under her giant spider sculpture Maman, vaguely smiling, tired with her head in her hands and working at home under a massive corkboard covered in photographs. The series, which was recently shown at Galerie Elizabeth Royer, basically reveals Bourgeois’ devotion to her work as well as her relentlessly active mind – through Jaussaud’s lens we can closely explore the artist’s life for the first time.

Take a look:

Jean-François Jaussaud, Louise Bourgeois in her Chelsea apartment