Louise Bourgeois Parents, Red Room My Parents, detail, (Je T'Aime) 1994

Louise Bourgeois

Red Room (parents), detail, 2009

With artist's authorized signature and copyright printed lower right and on verso; with publisher and edition information printed on verso; marked copyright "L. Bourgeois"

This work is unframed  but looks stunning when framed with plexiglass back, so it can be flipped from front to pack to make - literally - a different Louise Bourgeois pictures. 

Very desirable and collectible lifetime edition; the price has consistently risen over the years as this becomes more scarce - reaching  levels the artist herself might not have imagined when this was first sold.  Louise Bourgeois based this work on her famous Red Room (Parents) work, in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. According to the museum, "the bed, a place of closeness and sexuality, is flanked by two marble sculptures of naked torsos partially covered in cloth. A xylophone case and a toy train on the bed recall the presence of a child. In children’s eyes, sexuality is a mystery that is usually concealed. Between the two parents’ pillows the artist placed a third embroidered with “Je t’aime” [Ilove you], just as a child might nestle between its parents..." According to Louise Bourgeois' studio, one side of the pillowcase is a facsimile of an original drawing by Louise. And the embroidered text on the other side was sourced from another drawing related to this iconic work.

This limited edition, embroidery-signed silkscreened pillowcase, with additional embroidery on the back that reads "Je t'aime," created by the legendary American artist Louise Bourgeois was sold at the Tate Gallery gift shop and it sold out immediately. This design was conceived and authorized by Louise Bourgeois during her lifetime, which makes it especially collectible.  The publisher had hoped to be able to create a second edition, but that never happened - so this is the first and only edition. Limited edition fabric works by the artist are highly desirable and very rare especially in such good condition. Many collectors choose to frame these works with open Plexiglas backs, as there is artwork on both sides. (Others, of course, could choose to use this work as actual pillowcases! We know of one world famous gallerist who proudly displays these Louise Bourgeois works in his own bed.) During the Pandemic, the media dubbed the pillow case the "Must Have Gift of 2020" - meaning the Louise Bourgeois pillowcase is, par excellence, the must have ART gift of the pandemic - not just for its obvious symbol of comfort, but also for its explicit message of love writ large: Je T'Aime.

SIGNATURE

Plate signed; artist's authorized signature lower right and on verso; with publisher and edition info printed on verso; marked copyright "L. Bourgeois"