Louise Bourgeois at Hamburg Kunsthalle

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) Maman, 1999 Installation vor der Hamburger Kunsthalle 2012 Bronze mit Silbernitratpatina, Edelstahl und Marmor; 927,1 x 891,5 x 1023,6 cm Collection The Easton Foundation, Courtesy Cheim & Read und Hauser & Wirth Photo: Hamburger Kunsthalle/Kay Riechers © Louise Bourgeois Trust;
VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012

Through June 17, 2012 the Hamburg Kunsthalle is celebrating the artwork of Louise Bourgeois on what would have been her 100th birthday.




Her work is so diverse that it is hard to characterize. Her oeuvre includes sculpture, prints, and installation art. She has been called the Spiderwoman after her spider structures called Maman.This piece is a 30 foot sculpture constructed in steel, bronze, and marble. The spider is a recurring theme in her work in remembrance of her mother. For Bourgeois, the spider symbolized maternal benevolence, a tone that is seen throughout her work

Bourgeois was born on 25 December 1911 in Paris, She discovered as a child that her governess was also her father’s mistress. This trauma has played into her work, much or which convey, anxiety, and expresses themes of betrayal, anxiety, and loneliness.

Originally stydung mathematics, she discovered her love of art and eventually graduated from the Sorbonne in 1935. Her later art years saw her join the American Abstract Artists Group, where she became frinds with Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock. She began working in wood and during the early fifties she began working in marble, plaster and bronze, where she began to examine her concerns of fear and vulnerability.


One of her famous pieces, Destruction of Father (1974) is a biographical and a psychological exploration of the power dominance of father and his offspring. The piece is a flesh-toned installation in a soft and womb-like room. Made of plaster, latex, wood, fabric, and red light, Destruction of the Fatherwas the first piece in which she used soft materials on a large scale. Upon entering the installation, the viewer stands in the aftermath of a crime. Set in a stylized dining room (with the dual impact of a bedroom), the abstract blob-like children of an overbearing father have rebelled, murdered, and eaten him. (from wikipedia)

Read more about Louise Bourgeois at


artobserved. 


Art21.


New York Times.

Wiki Paintings: A New Image Bank

Robert Rauschenberg Monogram 1955

A new site for art images has just arrived, Wikipaintings. It is a non-profift site and will not contain advertising in any form. The founders hope to make, “classical art a little more accessible and comprehensible, and also want to provide a new form of interaction between contemporary artists and their audience. In the future we plan to cover the entire history of art — from cave artworks to the new talents of today.” Users can search by art work — style, genre, technique, etc. 

Wikipaintings does not appear to be affiliated with Wikipedia but functions as any wiki would. Users will be able to add their own content and edit already existing text.

Right now it seems that artists are being added. A search done for Richard Serra, a modern large-scale sheet metal sculptor did not bring up results but a search on sculptor and installation artist  Louise Bourgeois brought up a number of her works. A search on contemporary painter
John Currin did not return any results. The images are very good representations and searching is allowed by artist name, genre, movement, and nationality. Brief biographical information about the artist is included.

A reviewer says, “I still love Google Art Project for the amazing depth and detail, but Wikipaintings is much better for understanding and visualizing the growth of an artist through his or her lifetime.  I look forward to seeing how Wikipaintings grows once it is open to contributors; maybe it will even expand beyond 2-D work into sculpture and installation art.” (from artinfo.com)

Wikipaintings is in its beta phase and you can read more about them on their facebook page.