• Hidden offers the rare opportunity to purchase original, hand-signed prints by Louise Bourgeois - one of the most influential artists of Modern and Contemporary art. Known for her deeply personal work, Bourgeois' prints are held across the world’s most important art institutions. She maintains a dedicated market and her limited-edition, highly collectible prints are perfect for collectors seeking historically significant works.

  • Who was Louise Bourgeois?

    Who was Louise Bourgeois?

    Louise Bourgeois was a fiercely intelligent woman with a firmly cemented reputation as one of the last century’s most significant artists. Her multimedia practice, exploring childhood, domesticity, nature and memory, spanned over eight decades. 

     

    Bourgeois was a volatile artist swinging between two complete polarities – she was formidable and fiery yet intensely vulnerable. Art was what kept her balanced; trauma was a driving force for her and printmaking, drawing, sculpture and installation were her different methods of exorcism. She was irreparably affected by her father’s infidelities, her mother's death and the family dynamics that shaped her as a young woman. She feared abandonment and felt displaced when she first moved away from her home in France, describing herself as a ‘lost girl’. Her simultaneously explosive yet sensitive artworks are profoundly human and remain totally original and completely inimitable.

  •
  • 1. Bourgeois is renowned worldwide 1. Bourgeois is renowned worldwide 1. Bourgeois is renowned worldwide

    1. Bourgeois is renowned worldwide

    For too substantial a period, Bourgeois was mostly seen as an appendage to her husband Robert Goldwater, an influential art critic and historian. It wasn't until she was 70-years-old that she finally attracted widespread attention, having been awarded a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.

     

    Bourgeois was the first female artist to receive this opportunity. She became a key figure in the promotion of female artists as she was also the first artist ever to be awarded the chance to exhibit in Tate Modern’s notorious Turbine Hall. Now, her artworks can be found in major collections across the globe.

     

    Photos taken by Hidden Gallery

  • 2. Bourgeois was a revolutionary printmaker 2. Bourgeois was a revolutionary printmaker

    2. Bourgeois was a revolutionary printmaker

    In the very early days of her career, Bourgeois experimented at home with relief techniques before formally studying lithography at the Art Students League. As a multimedia artist, she then spent many years working with sculpture but returned to printmaking later in her life. Given that her work can be seen as autobiographical, it is poignant that printmaking bookended her career. Creating art was cathartic for the artist, and it is significant that she began printmaking again in 1973 when her husband died. She couldn’t live, let alone work without it.

     

    Did you know? As well as being a prolific printmaker, Bourgeois even opened her own print gallery once she graduated from art school. Her first encounter with her husband was when he visited to buy a number of Picasso prints.

  •
  • ‘Autobiographical Series’, 1994 ‘Autobiographical Series’, 1994

    ‘Autobiographical Series’, 1994

    Among Bourgeois' most collectible prints are those included in her ‘Autobiographical Series’, a portfolio of fourteen drypoint etchings created in 1994. Drypoint—her preferred technique—allowed Bourgeois to carve directly into printing plates using a needle, mirroring the textile-based processes she had developed since childhood.

     

    This rare series, held in prestigious collections such as the Tate, was produced in an extremely limited edition of 35 and impressions infrequently appear at auction.

     

    Two standout pieces from the series include:

     

    • ‘Toilette’ – A compelling exploration of girlhood, an important theme across Bourgeois’ work. The figure’s flowing hair is significant – the artist considered long hair to be the epitome of femininity, and multiple studio shots of the artist depict her with her own long, flowing hair.

     

    • ‘Sewing’ – The practice of sewing in Bourgeois’ eyes was symbolic of repair and restoration. This print draws on the artist’s formative, early experiences with textiles when she worked on tapestries in her family’s studio.
  • ‘Rameau d’olivier’, 2004

    ‘Rameau d’olivier’, 2004

    Bourgeois loved lithography as the medium allowed her to print incredibly vibrant colours, particularly deep reds and blues. ‘Rameau d’olivier’ from 2004, with its vibrant red composition, perfectly demonstrates why the artist was compelled by the technique. ‘Rameau d’olivier’ comes from an edition of only 146 and is initialled and numbered in pencil. It was produced for the fundraising portfolio ‘Art pour la Paix’, published by Les Méditerranéennes Médiatrices de la Paix, a humanitarian organization dedicated to promoting peace through conflict mediation and cultural exchange projects.

     

    Bourgeois was greatly inspired by the natural world and depicted flora and fauna throughout her career. She viewed trees as potent metaphors for growth and protection, and her memories of the apple and pear trees at her childhood home offer an additional autobiographical interpretation.