WASSENAAR.- Voorlinden presents Louise Bourgeois: To Unravel a Torment, a six-decade survey exhibition featuring forty pivotal works from the Glenstone Collection, The Easton Foundation and Voorlinden. It has been almost thirty years since the art of Louise Bourgeois has been shown on such a broad scale in the Netherlands.

“It is astonishing how during a period of decades Bourgeois kept re-inventing herself in her art and created works of such variety, which when shown together reveal a surprising coherence and a unique individual signature”, says director Suzanne Swarts.

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) was a radical figure who pursued her own course with wit, intelligence, and daring – at times out of step with prevailing taste and ideas. Today she is recognized as an icon of late 20th century art, who combined personal narrative and psychological insight with extraordinary artistic innovations.

“Although the work is personal, it has a special quality that gets under the skin of all viewers and an ability to unlock hidden memories and thoughts,” says Swarts.

Maman (1999) – the largest of her famous spiders – will be installed on the grounds of Voorlinden figuring as the gateway to the exhibition. Inside, a selection of early wooden Personage sculptures is shown; as well as pieces in bronze, marble, plaster, rubber and textile; and suites of drawings and prints. There will also be several Cells installations in which Bourgeois is expressing psychic states and emotions such as anger, fear, and loneliness, which often evoke a sense of disquiet with the human body. The exhibition includes the rarely shown The Destruction of the Father (1974), considered by Bourgeois as one of her most important works. It is a theatrically-lit diorama served up as a commentary on domineering father figures and the imaginary revenge they inspire.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland and The Easton Foundation.