The Artist
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above circa December 1992

New York, Peridot Gallery, Louise Bourgeois: Sculptures, October 1950 (maquette)
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Penthouse Show: Selections from the Art Lending Service, February - April 1962 (maquette) (as Attentive Figure)
New York, Xavier Fourcade Gallery, Louise Bourgeois: Sculpture 1941-1953. Plus One New Piece, September - October 1979 (maquette)
Zurich, Galerie Lelong, Louise Bourgeois: 100 Zeichnungen 1939-1989, September - October 1989 (maquette)
Santa Monica, Linda Cathcart Gallery, Louise Bourgeois: Bronze Sculpture and Drawings, February - March 1990 (ed. no. 1/6)
Vienna, Galerie Krinzinger Wien, Louise Bourgeois 1939-89 Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, May - June 1990 (maquette)
Lyon, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Louise Bourgeois, July - August 1990, cat. no. 15, p. 61, illustrated (edition no. unknown)
Cologne, Galerie Karsten Greve, Louise Bourgeois: Bronzes of the 1940s and 1950s, October - November 1990 (ed. no. 3/6)
Barcelona, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Louise Bourgeois, November 1990 - January 1991, cat. no. 15, p. 59, illustrated (edition no. unknown)
Washington, D.C., National Museum of Women in the Arts, Expanding Visions: Women's Caucus for Art Conference, February - March 1991 (edition no. unknown)
Yonkers, The Hudson River Museum, Experiencing Sculpture: The Figurative Presence in America, 1870-1990, September 1991 - February 1992 (edition no. unknown)
New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Abstract-Figurative, June - August 1993 (edition no. unknown)
Santa Fe, Laura Carpenter Fine Art, Louise Bourgeois Personages, 1940s / Installations, 1990s, July - September 1993 (ed. no. 4/6)
New York, Barbara Mathes Gallery, Sculpture: The Figure Transformed, October - December 1994 (ed. no. 6/6)
Dublin, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, From Beyond the Pale, December 1994 - February 1995 (ed. no. 4/6)
Oxford, The Museum of Modern Art, Louise Bourgeois, October - December 1995 (ed. no. 4/6)
Minneapolis, Montgomery Glasoe Fine Art, Body of Work, April - June 1996 (edition no. unknown)
Salzburg, Rupertinum, Louise Bourgeois: Sculptures and Objects, July - October 1996 (edition no. unknown)
Sao Paulo, XXIII International Sao Paulo Bienal, Louise Bourgeois, October - December 1996 (ed. no. 6/6)
Cologne, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, Frauenmacht und Mannerherrschaft im Kulturvergleich, November 1997 - March 1998 (edition no. unknown)
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía; Strasbourg, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Surrealists in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School, December 1999 - February 2000 (artist's proof)
Peoria, Illinois, Peoria Art Guild, Works from the Marsha S. Glazer Collection, January - March 2004
Santa Barbara, The University Art Museum, University of California, Out of Site: Selections from the Marsha S. Glazer Collection, January - February 2005
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada; Edmonton, Art Gallery of Alberta; Toronto, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Louise Bourgeois, April 2011 - August 2013 (maquette)

Exh. Cat., Chicago, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Louise Bourgeois: Femme Maison, 1981, cat. no. 12, p. 5, illustrated (maquette) (in installation) (dated 1946-48)
Exh. Cat., New York, The Museum of Modern Art (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois: Retrospective, 1982, pl. 56, p, 59, illustrated (maquette), p. 55, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) and p. 60, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Xavier Fourcade Gallery, New York, 1979) 
Exh. Cat., Zurich, Maeght Lelong Zürich, Louise Bourgeois: Retrospektive 1947-1984, 1985, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Xavier Fourcade Gallery, 1979) and illustrated on the cover (maquette) 
Exh. Cat., Boston, Grossman Gallery, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Undercurrents: Rituals and Translations, 1987, cat. no. 9 (maquette) (checklist) 
Exh. Cat., Frankfurt, Frankfurter Kunstverein (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1989, cat. no. 15, p. 59, illustrated (another example) 
Exh. Cat., Hannover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Louise Bourgeois: Sculptures and Installations, 1994, pl. 13, p. 24, illustrated (ed. no. 3/6)
Exh. Cat., St. Louis, The Saint Louis Art Museum, Louise Bourgeois: The Personages, 1994, cat. no. 18, p. 55, illustrated in color (artist proof)
Charlotta Kotik, Terrie Sultan and Christian Leigh, Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, 1982-1993, New York, 1994, p. 19, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) 
Exh. Cat., Monterrey, Mexico, MARCO (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois, 1995, pp. 15 and 51, illustrated (edition no. unknown)
Exh. Cat., Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois, 1995, cat. no. 13, illustrated (maquette) and p. 17 (text)
Marie-Laure Bernadac, Louise Bourgeois, Paris, 1996, p. 61, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) and p. 60 (text)
Exh. Cat., Tokyo, Yokohama Museum of Art, Louise Bourgeois: Homesickness, 1997, p. 117, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) 
Exh. Cat., Rio de Janeiro, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Louise Bourgeois: Sculpture, 1997, p. 16, illustrated in color (edition no. unknown) and p. 18 (text)
Pandora Tabatabai Asbaghi and Jerry Gorovoy, Louise Bourgeois: Blue Days and Pink Days, Milan, 1997, p. 105, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950)
Exh. Cat., Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT List Visual Arts Center (and travelling), Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism and Self-Representation, 1998, pl. 11, p. 115, illustrated (artist proof) 
Rainer Crone and Petrus Graf Schaesberg, Louise Bourgeois: The Secret of the Cells, Munich, 1998, fig. 96, p. 61, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) 
Exh. Cat., Cologne, Galerie Karsten Greve, Louise Bourgeois chez Karsten Greve, 1999, p. 57, illustrated in color (ed. no. 4/6) 
Exh. Cat., Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofía, Louise Bourgeois: Memory and Architecture, 1999 (artist proof exhibited) and p. 41, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) 
Marie-Laure Bernadac and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, eds., Louise Bourgeois: Destruction of the Father, Reconstruction of the Father, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, 2000, p. 354 (text) 
Exh. Cat., Duisburg, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Blickachsen 3. Skulpturen im Kurpark Bad Homburg v.d. Höhe, 2001, p. 23, illustrated in color (ed. no. 4/6)
Exh. Cat., Urbana-Champaign, Kranner Art Museum, University of Illinois, Louise Bourgeois: The Early Works, 2002, fig. 12, p. 21 (maquette) (as a work in progress in the artist's studio, 1949)
Robert Storr, Paulo Herkenhoff and Allan Schwartzman, Louise Bourgeois, London, 2003, p. 56, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950)
Exh. Cat., New York, National Academy Museum (and travelling), Surrealism USA, 2005, cat. no. 125, p. 166, illustrated in color (artist proof)
Exh. Cat., Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Louise Bourgeois: La Famille, 2006, p. 107, illustrated (artist proof) 
Exh. Cat., London, Tate Gallery (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois, 2007, fig. 217, p. 230, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950)
Exh. Cat., Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois, 2008, fig. 247, p. 244, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950)
Galerie Karsten Greve, Galerie Karsten Greve: 40 Years, Cologne; 20 Years, Paris; 10 Years, St. Moritz, Cologne, 2009, p. 126, illustrated in color (edition no. unknown) (in installation)
Exh. Cat., Reykjavik, National Gallery of Iceland, Louise Bourgeois: Kona/Femme, 2011, p. 51, illustrated in color (artist proof)
Exh. Cat., Korea, Kukje Gallery, Personages, 2012, p. 18, illustrated (maquette) (as a work in progress in the artist's studio, 1949), pp. 31 and 39, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Peridot Gallery, New York, 1950) and p. 78, illustrated (maquette) (in installation at Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1982)
Exh. Cat., Munich, Haus der Kunst (and travelling), Louise Bourgeois, Structures of Existence: The Cells, 2015 (artist proof) (checklist)

This sculpture is in excellent condition. Some of the deeper contours of the work exhibit a slightly different patina, with hints of the underlying bronze coming through as is to be expected due to the nature of the artist's process. The work is slightly dusty, especially in the deeper crevices.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Driven by an inner compulsion to create work from painful psychological states, Louise Bourgeois’ oeuvre negotiates and incessantly recapitulates her experience of loss, severance, and mourning across a pioneering and plural artistic terrain. This exorcizing agenda can be traced to the very earliest mature body of work initiated by Bourgeois during the 1940s, of which Breasted Woman is a crucial example. Though ostensibly distanced from the raw severity of the artist’s late work, this corpus, collectively known as the Personages, encompasses the blue-print for Bourgeois’ future production. As Josef Helfenstein has explicated: “The Personages, the most distinct group of Bourgeois’ early work, have only been recently recognized as an outstanding contribution to the history of sculpture in the twentieth century. Although Bourgeois has developed her works in unprecedented directions after 1955, constantly shifting to new concepts, styles and materials, the Personages provide the key to crucial themes and concerns of her entire body of work.” (Josef Helfenstein, “Personages: Animism versus Modernist Sculpture” in Exh. Cat., London, Tate Modern [and travelling], Louise Bourgeois, 2007 p. 207) Distinctly evocative of decisive artistic movements yet not held hostage by their canons, Bourgeois’ first authoritative body of work invokes a truly encyclopedic host of references. Although suggesting the formal conceits of Cubism and Surrealism, while deeply evocative of Brancusi’s Endless Column and Alberto Giacometti’s severe transmutation of the human form, the Personages pursue an entirely singular direction informed by Bourgeois’ unique psychic landscape.

In 1938 the newly wed Bourgeois and her husband, the pioneering art historian Robert Goldwater, moved and settled in New York where Goldwater held an academic position at NYU. For Bourgeois the ensuing years not only brought motherhood, but a plague of homesickness and an acute sense of severance from her family in Paris. The cast of caryatid-like sculptures produced during this period have been described by the artist as surrogates for the people she left behind. Representing substitutes for the missing, the Personages inhabit a somewhat comforting yet uncanny human equivalence: life-size and architectonic, their abstract anthropomorphic forms evoke a solemn and mournful fragility. Revealingly, art historian Mignon Nixon has astutely argued that these sombre monuments “inscribed a work of mourning at the level of making, implying, through physical cutting, a psychical process of determined and painstaking detachment.” (Mignon Nixon, “Psychoanalysis, Louise Bourgeois and Reconstruction the Past” in Ibid., p. 229) Here, a seemingly precarious and human-scaled stack of undulating and curvaceous forms imparts an outward physical counterpart to Bourgeois' inner bereavement; by turning her attachment to loss and mourning into an external project of making, the sculpture serves to reconstruct the past and recall the missing. Grounded in her immediate emotional present, yet standing as universal beacons for loss, the Personages form the very genesis of Bourgeois' astounding career. From this moment on, Bourgeois would mi🍷ne and draw from the traumas of her own psychological being as a means of cathartic exorcism.

Entrenched in the mythology surrounding her parentage and upbringing, Bourgeois retrospectively replayed, reprised and replicated inner distress at a level of artistic production. Standing at the forefront of this dialogue, the Personages signal the first major manifestation of an internal trauma with its roots in her childhood. Indeed, beyond standing as a generic marker for the missing, Breasted Woman cuts a distinctly maternal figure: the stack of tumulus breasted shapes distends out at the totem’s ‘waist’ to infer a reading of pregnancy. Where this may reference her own newfound motherhood, Bourgeois has famously expressed maternal ambivalence owing to her own need to be nurtured: “One needs a mother. I understand that, but I refuse to be your mother because I need a mother myself.” (Louise Bourgeois cited in Ibid., p. 164) The loss of her own mother in 1932 was a trauma that the artist never truly surmounted and imparted a denial of separation that is apposite for a reading of the present work. That the wooden Personages were only cast in bronze and disseminated some forty years after their initial conception meant that Bourgeois maintained control over these foundational creations for almost half of her extremely long life; a fact that infers a marked reluctance to let go. Breasted Woman thus masterfully embodies an expression that is at once universal yet achingly personal, and would set the confessional tone for the next fifty years of Bourgeois’ ground-breaking artisticꦆ pract📖ice.