College Louise Bourgeois

On Jan. 30, editor-in-chief and art historian Nicole Ex will give a lecture at The School of Life on the peerless pioneer Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). This lecture is part of the Radical Innovators in Art series, but is available as a separate lecture especially for readers of See All This. Buy your tickets here.

LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COURAGEOUS, IDIOSYNCRATIC, INNOVATIVE

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) was seventy years old when she got her first retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. She is one of the few women artists to gain recognition (at an advanced age) in the twentieth century. For that reason alone, she is a pioneer and a beacon of hope for the many women artists who spend their lives working in the shadows. If art is “the all-individual expression of all-individual emotion,” this definition has been implemented in an extreme way in Louise Bourgeois’ work. Enfant terrible Bourgeois does not mince words. Known for her explicit female forms, her solitary cell installations and her giant spiders symbolizing the ultimate mother figure, she expresses what moves her soul: sexuality, anger, jealousy, motherhood. In her own words, “I’ve been to hell and back and let me tell you, it was wonderful.

THIS LECTURE IS PART OF THE SERIES RADICAL INNOVATORS IN ART

In this series you will be taught by top experts of international repute, art historians who are praised for their scholarly achievements and inspired speaking style. In an accessible tone, they will share with you their fascination with artists with whom they have sometimes been involved for years. For example, the lecture on Vincent van Gogh will be given by Louis van Tilborgh of the Van Gogh Museum, recognized worldwide as the Van Gogh expert. Frouke van Dijke, who talks about the radicality of Édouard Manet, as curator of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, has studied French Impressionism for years. None other than renowned art critic, curator and presenter Hans den Hartog Jager talks about Renzo Martens and participatory art. The final lecture in this series will be given by Nicole Ex and can also be ordered separately through See All This.

Read more about the lecture series on radical innovators here.