Famille

1938–2010 · Workplace

New York City

1940s

A turn to sculpture under the influence of the Surrealists

In the 1940s Bourgeois concentrated on sculpture, and she was strongly influenced by the influx of European Surrealist artists who emigrated to the United States after the Second World War. At first her sculptures consisted of groups of abstract, organic forms, often carved from wood.

1945

First solo exhibition

Bourgeois’s first solo show took place in 1945, but despite it she received very little attention from the art world.

1945

“The Women”, an exhibition of fourteen women artists

In 1945 Bourgeois took part in “The Women”, an exhibition of fourteen women artists at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century. It stimulated debate about the place of women artists but also set them apart from their canonised male counterparts; Bourgeois herself said she did not know what art made by a woman is.

1949

First exhibition of her sculptures

In 1949 the first exhibition of Bourgeois’s sculptures was held.

1950s

The turn from wood to marble, plaster and bronze

Working with the American Abstract Artists group, Bourgeois moved from wood and upright structures to marble, plaster and bronze as she investigated fear, vulnerability and loss of control. The transition was a turning point.