Louise Bourgeois

Home for Runaway Girls

About this artwork

Made on sandpaper, this small work takes the form of a crudely drawn plaque. The text refers to the town of Antony in northern France where Bourgeois lived as a child. The words "Fille-mère" in French means "unmarried mother", suggesting the plight of young, unwed mothers, chastised by society during much of the twentieth century. This narrative refers to abandonment, forced escape and shelter. Bourgeois described as a "runaway girl", having left France and a difficult relationship with her father to marry the art historian Robert Goldwater and to build a new life in New York.

Updated before 2020

see media
  • artist:
    Louise Bourgeois (1911 - 2010) American
  • title:
    Home for Runaway Girls
  • date created:
    1994
  • materials:
    Gouache on sandpaper
  • measurements:
    (framed: 22.20 x 15.90 cm)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Lent by Artist Rooms Foundation 2013
  • accession number:
    AL00340
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois