Louise Bourgeois

Nature Study

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About this artwork

This small sculpture reads as a cyclical entity, with the hair of the woman becoming the knotted spiral from which she emerges. This composition suggests the process of birth or rebirth. Spirals appear throughout Bourgeois’s work. For her, they are symbolic of the desire to control psychological disorder, but also provide a metaphor for cycles of life. The hand was not cast from a human model. Instead, Bourgeois created it using a combination of casts and moulding to create the slender, delicate fingers.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Louise Bourgeois (1911 - 2010) American
  • title:
    Nature Study
  • date created:
    1986
  • materials:
    Bronze, silver nitrate patina
  • measurements:
    15.20 x 25.40 x 17.80 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Lent by Artist Rooms Foundation 2011
  • accession number:
    AL00228
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois