The Trauma of Abandonment, cover

Cat. No. 134

The Trauma of Abandonment, cover

Date:
2006
Illustrated Book:
The Trauma of Abandonment
Themes
Fabric Works, Words
Techniques
Other Techniques
Support:
Fabric
Dimensions:
cover: 12 1/2 x 9 3/4" (31.8 x 24.8 cm)
Signature:
"LB" right lower margin each page, stitched in red thread.
Publisher
unpublished
Edition:
Unique
Background:
This book was made for an exhibition titled "Pulcherrimae Strade" that was organized for the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy in 2002. Thirteen international artists were invited to create works for particular historic places in the region. Bourgeois's book was presented with each page framed and was installed in the San Francesco Church in Muggia (Trieste, Italy). Bourgeois made the cover for the book later, in 2006.

This was Bourgeois's first fabric book. She would next turn to books with pages of fabric collages.
Curatorial Remarks:
There is light staining on the cover and pages, as is commonly found in the old fabrics Bourgeois chose to use as printing surfaces.
Description:
Text stitched in red thread
Housing:
Unbound.
Other Remarks:
The Louise Bourgeois Studio provided the following information:

Bourgeois's father, Louis, was an amateur photographer and Bourgeois had in her possession a group of photographs taken during World War I by him, or by his fellow soldiers, documenting their experiences.

Bourgeois considered her memories of her father leaving the family for the war as the beginning of her fear of abandonment. Her uncle Desiré was killed during the first week of the war and, as a result, her cousins Jacques and Maurice moved in with her family.

Bourgeois's mother Joséphine took Bourgeois with her and they followed her father from camp to camp. Most significant was the fact that Louis was wounded and Bourgeois traveled with her mother to the hospital in Chartres during his recuperation.

In this book's images, the circling of the hands in red stitching has to do with the longing for touch. Bourgeois's sculptures have many hands realized in marble and bronze, which continue this theme.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

The Trauma of Abandonment , cover

2001

Cover
The Trauma of Abandonment, cover

Illustrated Book

2001

The Trauma of Abandonment

Related Works in the Catalogue

Do Not Abandon Me
Do Not Abandon Me
Abandoned