Collection Online as of December 6, 2022

Blind Man's Buff (base)

1984

Part of a set. See all set records

Louise Bourgeois

(American, 1911–2010)

America, 20th century

Wood

Overall: 49 x 80 x 49 cm (19 5/16 x 31 1/2 x 19 5/16 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2002.29.b

Location

229C Contemporary

Fun Fact

Historians have made connections between the bulging, rounded forms in <em>Blind Man's Buff </em>and representations of Artemis of Ephesus, the goddess of fertility in Greek mythology, and the Venus of Willendorf, one of the earliest ancient art objects discovered.

Description

Wit and play are essential elements throughout Louise Bourgeois's work. Here the work's title is a variation on "Blind Man's Bluff," the child's game in which a blindfolded person must look for fellow players using only sound and touch. The artist's revision of "bluff" to "buff" has a dual meaning. It evokes the method of smoothing or "buffing" marble, which was part of the work's production. "Buff" also relates to the sculpture's evocation of nude body parts, both male and female. The allusion to nudity is reinforced by the fabric folds visible at the sculpture's edges, as if clothing has been cast aside.

Provenance

1984-?

Louise Bourgeois [1911-2010], New York, NY, possibly consigned to Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY

?-?

(Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY)

1995

(Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany, 1995, sold to private collector)

2002

(Christie's, NY, May, 14, 2002, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

2002-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 120

Exhibition history

New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Louise Bourgeois: Sculpture, September-October 1984

University of Pittsburgh Gallery, Sculpture by Women in the Eighties, November-December 1985

Cincinnati, The Taft Museum; Miami, The Art Museum at Florida International University; Austin, Laguna Gloria Art Museum; St Louis, Washington University, Gallery of Art; and Syracuse, Everson Museum of Art, Louise Bourgeois, May 1987-November 1989 (illustrated, n.p.)

Frankfurt, Frankfurter Kunstverein; Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus; Lyon, Musée d'Art Contemporain; Barcelona, Fondaçion Tapies; Berne, Kunstmuseum; and Otterlo, Kröller-Muller-Museum, Louise Bourgeois: A Retrospective Exhibition, December 1989-July 1991, p. 151 (illustrated)

London, Riverside Studios, Louise Bourgeois: Recent Work 1984-1989, May-June 1990, p.28 (illustrated)

Brooklyn Museum of Art; Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art; Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum; and Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory, Works 1982-1993, April 1994-October 1995, p. 90, pl. 5 (illustrated)

Tate Modern (10/11/2007 - 1/27/2008), Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou (3/5/2008 - 6/2/2008), and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (6/27/2008 - 9/28/2008): "Louise Bourgeois"

Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University (3/26/2011 - 8/7/2011): "Double Sexus: Hans Bellmer and Louise Bourgeois"

Louise Bourgeois. Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (October 11, 2007-January 27, 2008); Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris cedex O4, France (March 5-June 2, 2008); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (June 27-September 28, 2008).

Double Sexus: Hans Bellmer and Louise Bourgeois. Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH (organizer) (March 26-August 7, 2011).

Contemporary Gallery Reinstallation 2021. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).