He Disappeared Into Complete Silence

Introduction by Marius Bewley

Considered by many to be the most important woman in the art of the 20^th century, Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911, then lived in New York from 1938 to her death in 2010. In 1999, she received the Gold Lion from the Venice Biennale for her lifetime achievement.

Her varied and original work, exemplified by her celebrated and massive spiders, brings together sculptures and installations exploring themes including sexuality, femininity, childhood, primal fears…

Louise Bourgeois created He Disappeared into Complete Silence in 1947, at the beginning of her career and two years after her first personal exhibition. This dense and splendid book, very rare, was initially printed in only a dozen copies and contains nine engravings by the artist alongside with a brief narrative text. Her texts are like short stories as surprising and elegant as haikus. We find with the engravings, astonishing architectures, lonely figures, objects in unusual situations …

The book is reproduced in its original format including its first French translation, on loose sheets at the end.