I am currently doing some research for an upcoming podcast episode on artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois and came across a wonderful anecdotal story that reveals the “effervescence” of Louise the woman. Sarah K. Rich, an associate art professor of Art History at Penn State in her 2008 essay, “Louise Bourgeois,” shared a story from a friend.
“A friend recently told me of her visit to one of Louise Bourgeois’s salons a few years ago. Another guest had gifted Bourgeois a box of bonbons, which the Grande Dame had been enthusiastically sampling, covering herself and all she touched with chocolate in the process. My friend had taken a painting to a show -a small gouache requiring close inspection and suddenly Bourgeois made a grab for it. Facing the prospect of having her work amended with cocoa powder, my friend demurred, and finally a third party was recruited to hold the piece before Bourgeois’s eyes. But for the rest of the afternoon, no one would be entirely safe from Bourgeois’s caked brown fingers”
My first response was “wow, she is like a child!” But I LOVE Rich’s interpretation of this anecdote, that “presents Bourgeois as I have always imagined her-taking hold of the world with hands dripping in luxury and squalor.” Bourgeois is “in it, in everything.”
Bourgeois inspires me to be so shameless in my engagement in this world– to drench and be drenched in its inherent tactility.
Learn more about Sarah K Rich: http://independent.academia.edu/SarahRich3
Citation: Rich, Sarah K. Artforum INternationl; New York Vol. 47, iss 3, (Nov 2008: 342-343.