Louise Bourgeois's Maternity Explored in Florence Exhibition

The Museo Novecento in Florence presents 'Do not abandon me,' a major exhibition dedicated to Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), curated by Sergio Risaliti and Philip Larrat-Smith in collaboration with The Easton Foundation. The show features nearly 100 works, including two iconic Spider sculptures, and focuses on the artist's late period (last 15 years), with gouaches, marble and bronze sculptures, mixed media and fabric installations. Bourgeois, who lost her mother in 1932, explored themes of maternity, abandonment, and the mother-child relationship throughout her career. The exhibition includes a series of 16 digital prints on fabric (2009–2010) made with Tracey Emin, titled 'Do not abandon me.' A complementary installation, 'Cell XVIII (Portrait)' (2000), is displayed at the Museo degli Innocenti, where it dialogues with the museum's collection. The exhibition highlights Bourgeois's reappropriation of maternity from a female perspective, a subject historically dominated by male artists.