Runaway Girl: The Artist Louise Bourgeois

Grade 7 Up-To mix a biography of Bourgeois with an explanation of her sculpture, fit in her impact on the artistic community, and remain accessible to students may seem to be an impossible feat, but Greenberg and Jordan have done it. Through solid research and interviews with Bourgeois, the woman´s stories and work come to life with poignant clarity. Her childhood years and her relationship with her parents are examined and their effect on her work is clear in the abundant black-and-white and full-color photographs. Bourgeois´s place in the art world was sealed in 1969 when she became the first woman sculptor to have a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. An explanation of how to view sculpture using Bourgeois´s Couple (2001) as an example, an area list of locations where her art is displayed, and lists of the works pictured-one chronological and one by chapter-are included. This superb book is a perfect starting point for research on the artist and 20th-century sculpture.