Louise Bourgeois
Connecticutiana | 1944-1945
Oil on wood | 11 × 42 in.
© The Easton Foundation / Licensed by VAGA
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has acquired two sculptures and two paintings by artist Louise Bourgeois, marking the first acquisition of Bourgeois paintings by a museum in the United States.
The works are: “Maman” (bronze, stainless steel, and marble), “Quarantania” (bronze, painted white with blue and black, and stainless steel), “Connecticutiana” (oil on wood) and “Untitled” (oil on canvas).
“Louise Bourgeois contributed significantly to shaping American narrative with work that spanned most of the 20th century and helped inform the growing feminist art movement,” Rod Bigelow, the museum’s executive director, said in a news release.
“Quarantania” debuted in Crystal Bridges’ “1940s to Now Art Gallery,” part of an area featuring artists’ depiction of the human form.
The others, considered landmark works from the 1940s, “Connecticutiana” and “Untitled,” will debut in the “1940s to Now Art Gallery” this summer.
The sculpture “Maman,” (which means “mama” in French), measures more than 30 feet in both length and height and will be installed on the museum’s grounds later this year. In 2000, Bourgeois was commissioned to create the sculpture for the opening of Turbine Hall Gallery, part of Tate Modern in London.
“The sculpture adds to our collection with sophisticated engineering and stainless steel armature, which will engage viewers and challenge our ideas of architecture and sculpture,” Bigelow said.
The museum also acquired Jasper Johns “Flag” from 1983, an encaustic on silk flag on canvas. It will show the work as part of a Flag Day weekend. A member preview with curator Chad Alligood is scheduled for June 12 with the public opening on June 13.
“The flag is the most enduring of Johns’ subjects, appearing in more than 90 works throughout his career,” Bigelow said.
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