Object Details
Artist
Louise Bourgeois
Date
1990
Medium
Drypoint, soft ground etching and lift aquatint in color
Dimensions
Sheet: 24 3/4 x 19 inches (62.9 x 48.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Sylvan Cole, Jr., Class of 1939
Object
Number
97.034
Although Bourgeois produced inspiring work throughout the twentieth century, she was considered a re(…)
Although Bourgeois produced inspiring work throughout the twentieth century, she was considered a relatively minor figure until a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 1982, when the artist was in her seventies. She is now regarded as one of the most important artists of her time. Bourgeois’s style is rooted in surrealism, which she experienced firsthand; some even credit her as its major practitioner as other styles, primarily abstraction, achieved a more prominent place in the art world. Self-Portrait presents a child inside of a head with what could be considered male and female sides. The child is contained within male and female heads, but is developing toward the more feminine side. Bourgeois presents herself as a body contained within two heads. She develops within the confines of the minds and actions of her parents. The piece then makes a statement on the construction of identity with the family; a body gains gender and sex through upbringing and socialization. (“Imprint/ In Print,” curated by Nancy E. Green with assistance from Christian Waibel ’17 and presented at the Johnson Museum August 8 – December 20, 2015)
