Louise Bourgeois, extrême tension. Dessins et gravures

Exhibition
October 20, 2026 – February 21, 2027
Bibliothèque nationale de France

Press release

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Press release

PNG — Louise Bourgeois, Altered States, 1992
Coloured ink, graphite pencil and ballpoint on paper, 48 x 60.5 cm
© The Easton Foundation / Adagp, Paris
Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Jean-Claude Planchet/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn

resented by Centre Pompidou and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, an exhibition dedicated to the graphic work of Louise Bourgeois will bring together the two institutions’ collections for the first time. It is also the first exhibition dedicated to the artist in a Parisian public institution since 2008.

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) is a major figure in contemporary art, who constructed her body of work on the margins of the major movements that marked the 20th century – surrealism, abstract expressionism, minimalism and so on. She developed a profoundly personal language that still exerts a major influence on many artists.

Bourgeois moved to New York in 1938 and discovered printmaking in Atelier 17 with Stanley William Hayter – a technique that would become an essential part of her entire body of work, along with drawing. Printmaking, drawing and sculpture fed into one another; words joined images, movements were repeated like rituals.

In 1995, the Musée national d'art moderne – Centre Pompidou and Bibliothèque Nationale de France devoted two distinct
exhibitions to her graphic work, with drawings on one side, and prints and books on the other.

For the occasion, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France received an exceptional donation from the artist: some 100 plates covering the entirety of her production, a set of works that were subsequently enriched by regular gifts from Friends of the BnF. As for Centre Pompidou’s Graphic Art Office, it acquired recent drawings, mainly from the 1990s, to which were added multiple consecutive gifts from the artist, the Clarence Westbury Foundation and the American Friends of Centre Pompidou.

Today, Centre Pompidou holds 91 works (drawings, prints, sculptures and installations) and the BNF over 100 prints and eight artist’s books. By bringing together these two complementary collections for the first time, the exhibition demonstrates how drawing and printmaking are interdependent for Louise Bourgeois and highlights the main themes throughout her work.

Curated by

Head curator

Marie-Laure Bernadac, Honorary General Heritage Curator

Associate curators

Cécile Pocheau-Lesteven, Head Curator, Head of the Collections of 20th and 21st-Century Prints BnF, Prints and Photography Department

Anne Monfort-Tanguy, Curator, Graphic Arts, Musée national d'art moderne - Centre Pompidou