Question 1

True or false: Louise Bourgeois was born in France but later became a US citizen.

Accepted Answer

True. She was born in Paris in 1911, moved to New York in 1938, and became a US citizen in 1955.

Question 2

True or false: Her famous spider sculpture 'Maman' is over 30 feet tall.

Accepted Answer

True. 'Maman' stands 30 feet 6 inches tall, symbolizing her mother’s protective and weaving nature.

Question 3

True or false: Bourgeois started her art career as a painter, not a sculptor.

Accepted Answer

True. She began as a painter and printmaker, only turning to sculpture in her 30s after moving to New York.

Question 4

True or false: Louise Bourgeois never exhibited any artwork until she was 70 years old.

Accepted Answer

False. She exhibited as early as the 1940s, though major fame came later in life, after her 70s.

Question 5

True or false: She won the Nobel Prize in Art in 1999.

Accepted Answer

False. There is no Nobel Prize for art. She won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1999.

Question 6

True or false: Bourgeois wrote an opera about spiders called 'Arachné'.

Accepted Answer

False. No such opera exists. She did write poetic texts, but she never composed an opera; 'Arachné' is a Greek myth.

Question 7

True or false: Bourgeois destroyed all her early tapestries because she hated weaving.

Accepted Answer

False. She actually learned tapestry restoration from her mother and kept many early works; she didn't destroy them.

Question 8

True or false: Her work 'Cells' series was inspired by her childhood home’s architecture.

Accepted Answer

True. The 'Cells' series reflects the spatial and emotional architecture of her family home in France, especially the river.

Louise Bourgeois Trivia Questions