A visually captivating, melodic tribute to Louise Bourgeois, an artist who was way ahead of her time.
‘Cloth Lullaby‘ by Amy Novesky and Isabelle Arsenault, has fused a poetic story with alluring artwork to give us a deeper insight into the childhood of Louise Bourgeois and the influential relationship between her and her mother.
Bourgeois began life in France as an apprentice to her mother, a tapestry restorer.
By the tender age of twelve, she had learned how to ‘draw in the missing fragments of a tapestry‘ as an artist in her own right.
This biography captures the underlying inspiration for one of Bourgeois’ most famous pieces of work, the spider sculpture, ‘Maman’.
An allegorical tale which weaves the notion of her mother being the spider into the fabric of the story, long before the 30 foot steel sculpture was even an embryonic idea.
We also learn how Bourgeois went on to study Maths, but whilst at University her mother died and she abandoned numbers and took solace in her creativity.
From sewing and painting to sculpting and weaving, Louise Bourgeois threw herself into her artwork.
She made cloth books with fabric from her own wardrobe, perhaps to cope with growing older, without her mother who played such a huge role in her formative years.
Such an engaging life story and one we urge you to read. ‘Cloth Lullaby‘ is a sensitively produced biography of a hugely creative woman.
picture books blogger 
I’m such a big fan of the artist-subject and the one who illustrated it. Can’t wait for this one! Wow.
Wonderful!. Thank you so much for this review. I´m delighted that you shared this piece of treasure with us all
Thank you for this lovely review of my book!
You are very welcome Amy. It’s a stunning interpretation of an incredible lady’s life story