Louise Bourgeois - Contemporary Art Day Sale New York Friday, May 17, 2013 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist
    Galerie Hauser & Wirth, Zurich
    Private Collection

  • Exhibited

    Zurich, Daros Exhibitions, Louise Bourgeois: Emotions Abstracted. Works 1941-2000, March 13 - September 12, 2004

  • Literature

    E. Keller and R. Malin, Louise Bourgeois: Emotions Abstracted. Works 1941-2000, exh. cat., Zurich, 2004, fig. 31, cat. 33 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present lot is a small-scale marble replica of the artist’s country home in Easton, Connecticut, where Louise Bourgeois and her family took refuge during World War II. This house, purchased by the family in 1941, served as a recurring theme in Bourgeois’ work over the course of her career. Bourgeois depicted the country house in multiple mediums, but arguably the most beautiful and serene of these representations are the sculptures in marble, each of which is unique and completely handcrafted.

    Each representation from the House series varies only slightly; some have gently curved façades, and varying numbers of windows and doors. The present lot however is one of the most perfect and flawless renderings, with smooth and immaculate edges, and most notably, no means of entering the secret and sacred interior. The work’s gently sculpted edges and soft white coloration give the hard medium a serene and almost tender appearance; the work becomes supple like a weightless cloud. Bourgeois’ attachment to the house comes through in her sensitive rendering of its obstinate architecture. When examining the piece, it is possible to sense the artist’s emotional investment in the object of her work, creating a peaceful, intimate moment between viewer and sculpture, and a window into the artist’s complex past.

  • Artist Biography

    Louise Bourgeois

    French-American • 1911 - 2010

    Known for her idiosyncratic style, Louise Bourgeois was a pioneering and iconic figure of twentieth and early twenty-first century art. Untied to an art historical movement, Bourgeois was a singular voice, both commanding and quiet.

    Bourgeois was a prolific printmaker, draftsman, sculptor and painter. She employed diverse materials including metal, fabric, wood, plaster, paper and paint in a range of scale — both monumental and intimate. She used recurring themes and subjects (animals, insects, architecture, the figure, text and abstraction) as form and metaphor to explore the fragility of relationships and the human body. Her artworks are meditations of emotional states: loneliness, jealousy, pride, anger, fear, love and longing.

    View More Works

129

House

1984
marble
4 3/4 x 12 5/8 x 2 7/8 in. (12.1 x 32.1 x 7.3 cm.)
Initialed and dated "LB 84" along the lower edge.

Estimate
$180,000 - 220,000 

Contact Specialist
Amanda Stoffel
Head of Sale
astoffel@phillips.com
+1 212 940 1261

Contemporary Art Day Sale

New York 17 May 2013 10am