A Study in White: Reading a Portrait of Louise Bourgeois
Uploading an essay I have written for a class. The assignment was to choose a portrait of an artist and write about how they represent themselves through posture and clothing, and how that relates to their work. It was advised to read into it in a bold way (which I did for a bit with the white shirt). Redacted my professor's name (due to my anonymity).
“Louise Bourgeois kept a rail of clothes opposite her gas stove. You can find them there now: her home on West 22nd Street in New York has been preserved since her death in 2010. […] Much of the rail is occupied by white shirts and tops, her everyday layers. A sleeveless long white shirt has the label MOTHERHOOD.” (Porter, 2021)
Thus begins Charlie Porter’s Chapter in What Artists Wear on Louise Bourgeois. Bourgeois (1911-2010) was a French-American artist (Hauser & Wirth, 2026). She is best known for her sculptures, but she also made installations, graphic and textile art. Among her best-known works are her spider sculptures, which she described as her most successful subject (Tate, 2026). The spiders embody a double theme: the predator, guardian, and repairer of her web, while at the same time, those qualities represent her mother (Tate, 2026). A direct reference to this can be seen in Maman (1999), where a gigantic spider shelters a sac of eggs beneath her abdomen (Morris, 2007). The spider is there as a reassuring symbol, yet its large scale makes it seem menacing (Morris, 2007). Louise Bourgeois’ childhood memories and the relationship with her parents are recurring themes throughout her work.
Although Bourgeois is now widely known for her sculptures, she also made textile work and incorporated clothing into her exhibitions. Bourgeois was in tune with the feelings and memories that are attached to our clothes and the difficulty of letting them go (Porter, 2021). In her own words: “These garments have a history, they have touched my body, and they hold memories of people and places. They are chapters from the story of my life.” (Jana, 2022). Later in life, she would create otherworldly garments as a contrast to the correctness and neatness of her childhood clothing (Porter, 2021). She discarded part of her wardrobe, feeling dizzy as she saw the truck leaving with a part of her (Porter, 2021).
The photograph discussed in this essay shows Bourgeois in her studio before she made this shift in her wardrobe. She wears a white blouse with a pussybow, dark trousers and a striped cardigan. Her grey hair is gathered into a neat bun, and there are small gold hoops in her ears (Levy, 2018), as can be seen in Figure 1.
Photograph of Louise Bourgeois with Jambes enlacées in her studio Note. By Inge Morath, 1991, photograph, in Brooklyn, New York. Copyright Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London
In Figure 1, Bourgeois appears lost in thought, her expression gentle and contemplative. She firmly grasps the sculpture’s foot while seated on the artwork. Although she faces the viewer, her body remains oriented towards the sculpture, turned to her memories, or rather, returned. To analyse this photo (or her work), an anti-biographical position cannot be maintained for long, as the weight of interpretation linked to childhood memories cannot be ignored (Bernadac, 2006). As a child, she watched her parents mend antique tapestries, with her mother repairing them, much like a spider with its web (Jana, 2022; Novesky, 2016). Bourgeois sometimes helped by drawing missing sections of scenes, often the feet, which are the first parts to wear away because they are located at the bottom of the tapestry (Jana, 2022; Novesky, 2016). She described the revisiting of memories as follows: “Art is a guaranty of sanity, art is the experiencing – or rather the re-experiencing – of a trauma” (Bernadac, 2006).
In her sculpture, as seen in Figure 1, the legs and feet remain attached to the rough stone from which they have been carved. The rough, unpolished stone can be seen as the memories, the foundation and source on which Bourgeois is seated. Bourgeois remarked that many people do not realise that the sculpture was carved from a single block of stone and that such a material can be revealed into something smooth, elegant and delicate (Tate, 2026).
In the black-and-white photograph seen in Figure 1, both the sculpture and the white blouse immediately draw the viewer’s attention due to their contrast with the darker tones of the studio and the rest of her clothing. Bourgeois is also depicted wearing white shirts in most of her portraits. As Porter earlier noted, numerous white shirts still hang in her home today (2021). The white shirt has long been a staple garment. It has often been associated with intellect and work; the term white-collar job originated from occupations such as those of doctors and pharmacists (Redacted, personal communication, April 9, 2026). White was also associated with cleanliness and order (Redacted, personal communication, April 9, 2026). This impression is reinforced in the photo by Bourgeois’ tightly secured bun and her choice to wear only earrings as accessories.
In the 20th century, the white shirt was adopted by artists (particularly writers) as a kind of uniform (Redacted, personal communication, April 9, 2026). Bourgeois regarded being an artist as a privilege, something that she merited every day in order to avoid feelings of guilt (Bernadac, 2006). Yet for her, art also meant a sacrifice. Sacrifice of life itself: the artist sacrifices their life to it, not because they want to, but because they cannot do anything else (Bernadac, 2006). The white shirt, therefore, functions as a permanent work uniform, suggesting a life devoted to artistic labour. Her work is frequently interpreted as autobiographical, much as this essay has done. Louise Bourgeois also wanted her work to exist and matter beyond her presence there; Otherwise, she believed, it could not be considered good art (Bernadac, 2006).
In conclusion, the photograph shown in Figure 1 blurs the boundaries between Bourgeois, her clothing and her artwork, as if she and her sculpture are interwoven. As argued above, there is a cleanliness and neatness in her clothing that reminds of the correctness of her childhood dress (Porter, 2021). At the same time, there is something tender in her clothes, expression and the way she holds herself. She wears an outfit that is both elegant and simple. The white blouse allows her presence to be felt without overshadowing the sculpture beside her. Its pussybow balances femininity and authority (Redacted, personal communication, April 16, 2026), making her appear both professional and approachable. Her gaze remains fixed on the sculpture, the other focal point of the photograph, as the artist and the artwork seem to interlock, making it difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins.
Bernadac, M.-L. (2006). Louise Bourgeois. Paris: Flammarion Contemporary.
Hauser & Wirth. (2026). Louise Bourgeois. Retrieved from Hauserwirth.com on June 1, 2026: https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/2777-louise-bourgeois/
Jana, R. (2022, April 7). Louise Bourgeois and how old clothes can haunt us. Retrieved from bbc.com on June 1, 2026: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220406-louise-bourgois-and-how-old-clothes-can-haunt-us
Levy, D. (2018). The Cost of Living. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
Morath, I. (1991). Louise Bourgeois with James Enlacéés in her studio in Brooklyn, New York, 1991. The Easton Foundation/VAGA, London. Retrieved from tate.org.uk on June 3, 2026: https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-52-summer-2021/last-word
Morris, F. (2007). Louise Bourgeois. London: Tate.
Novesky, A. (2016). Cloth Lullaby: the woven life of Louise Bourgeois. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Porter, C. (2021). Louise Bourgeois. In C. Porter, What Artists Wear. Penguin Random House UK.
Tate. (2026). The Art of Louise Bourgeois. Retrieved from tate.org.uk on June 1, 2026: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/louise-bourgeois-2351/art-louise-bourgeois
prguitarman
germansingergirl
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
areudirty
romaincrisis
pixelskylines
dailybridgerton
stormborns
