Louise Bourgeois admired illustrated books as objects, often slowly turning their pages to relish the artistic contributions, the typography, and the overall design. She was also a reader—of literary works, psychology, history, and mythology; her many bouts of insomnia were often mitigated with reading. A fascination with words made the dictionary and thesaurus Bourgeois’s trusted friends, while her fluency in French and English added further dimensions of meaning to explore. Writing was yet another tool. She made copious notes, often with poetic cadences and probing metaphors. These can be found in her diaries, on the backs of drawings, and on random sheets she happened to have at hand.

The most ambitious work of Bourgeois’s early years, before she turned definitively to sculpture, was the small illustrated book containing her own parables, titled He Disappeared into Complete Silence. It remains a touchstone of her oeuvre, setting out themes she pursued for the rest of her life. Later, from the 1980s on, when Bourgeois was well known, she was sought out by publishers and several important illustrated volumes resulted. She also decided to create books on her own, particularly with pages fashioned from old fabric belongings. These illustrated book projects—approximately a dozen in all—provided an artistic means to accommodate the complex narratives fundamental to Bourgeois’s vision. It is fitting that among her last works, in 2010, was To Whom It May Concern, a hefty book/object, created in collaboration with the poet Gary Indiana, comprising text and illustrations printed on fabric pages.

Louise Bourgeois’s thematic approach to creating art lent itself to the traditional printmaking practice of issuing prints in series format, sometimes grouped together within a portfolio cover. This format allowed Bourgeois to sequence her prints into visual narratives, or simply assemble them as compendiums of related imagery. The series is a close relative of the illustrated book, which Bourgeois occasionally issued in bound and unbound formats, or with an accompanying portfolio. Serial exploration is basic even to the technique of printmaking, where compositions are developed in stages, through evolving states. Bourgeois also took full advantage of this aspect of the medium, leaving behind the sequential traces of her creative process.

While the motifs Bourgeois explored in her specifically defined series are usually representational, some are abstract, with the imagery providing a music-like experience as shapes and colors unfold rhythmically. These, and all her series, are seen to particular advantage when the individual prints are installed together to present a “chapter” of her artistic thinking. In one such example, The Fragile, of 2007, Bourgeois made a group of 36 individual prints that she actually considered one work of art, with sheets to be installed in a specific sequence.