Who painted Untitled?

Untitled was painted by Louise Bourgeois in 1938.

Where can I see Untitled?

Untitled is held by Museum of Modern Art.

Untitled by Louise Bourgeois (1938) — Meaning & Museum

About this work

Overview

Created in 1938, this lithograph is an early example of Louise Bourgeois’s printmaking practice. Executed before she achieved recognition for monumental sculpture and installation, the work is part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. It presents a compact, interior scene rendered in stark line and texture, offering a glimpse into the artist’s formative visual language.

Subject & Meaning

The image depicts a fragment of a room: a window framing a tower with a pointed roof, a wavy line suggesting water, and a rug with a criss‑cross pattern. A partially visible figure stands at the right edge, while a sign reading “MACOTS” (French for “cats”) hangs below the window. The composition hints at domestic space, the body, and subconscious associations tied to childhood memories.

Technique & Style

Executed in lithography, the piece relies on bold, angular lines and contrasting textures to convey depth within a limited pictorial field. The medium allows for crisp edges and subtle tonal variations, which Bourgeois uses to emphasize structural elements such as the window frame and rug pattern, creating a sense of tension between interior and exterior spaces.

History & Provenance

The lithograph was produced early in Bourgeois’s career, a period when she explored drawing, painting, and printmaking alongside nascent sculptural ideas. It entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection, where it remains accessible for study, illustrating the artist’s developmental trajectory before her later large‑scale works.

Context

During the late 1930s, Bourgeois was engaged with themes of domesticity, bodily presence, and the unconscious—motifs that would recur throughout her oeuvre. This work reflects those concerns, translating personal childhood experiences into a visual language that anticipates the psychological depth of her later sculptures and installations.