End of Softness
Artist
Louise Bourgeois
(American, born France, 1911 - 2010)
Date1967
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 7 1/8 × 20 1/8 × 15 inches (18.1 × 51.12 × 38.1 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the William T. Kemper Foundation–Commerce Bank, Trustee
Object number2004.40
Signedinscribed: "L B 1961 5/6"
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis bronze sculpture is abstract. It does not represent any specific object seen in the real world. It is primarily a horizontal form made up of undulating organic shapes. Before being cast in bronze, it appears to have been created using a soft, malleable material configured into heaps and drooping, sagging shapes.Gallery LabelLouise Bourgeois' sculptures almost always evoke the human body, suggesting male or female fragments. The form of End of Softness is vaguely reminiscent of internal organs. Visceral, it appears threatening yet helpless, durable yet fragile, at rest yet capable of stirring at any moment. Despite its seductive surface, it is strangely pathetic, even grotesque. Typical of much of Bourgeois' work, End of Softness remains ambiguous.
Of this sculpture, Bourgeois has said, "This is an inner landscape. The bottom is curved so the whole thing can rock back and forth. When you are rocked, you can be rocked by so many things, but you survive, you hold on together. So, in a way it is a self-portrait, which is a definition of a work of art."
Of this sculpture, Bourgeois has said, "This is an inner landscape. The bottom is curved so the whole thing can rock back and forth. When you are rocked, you can be rocked by so many things, but you survive, you hold on together. So, in a way it is a self-portrait, which is a definition of a work of art."
Copyright© Louise Bourgeois/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information,
is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete.
Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a
particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum.
If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image,
please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
1784
86-20
