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Louise Bourgeois documentary to reprise on Sundance Channel

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When sculptor Louise Bourgeois died the other day at 98, one critic called her ‘a brilliant inheritor of the Surrealist tradition’ and ‘feminist pioneer.’ Another said she ‘was not much of an artist, but she was a helluva lot of fun.’ A third described her work, especially her iconic giant spiders, as ‘sensual but grotesque.’

My own take, written on the occasion of her retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2008, is that she was the first major artist to successfully mine the emotional depth and power of modern domestic subject matter. The full review of that show is here.

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Whatever your view, you can get pretty good insight into her evocative work -- and forthright personality -- from the feature-length documentary film “Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine,” which had limited theatrical release at the time her retrospective toured the country. Now the Sundance Channel plans an encore presentation of the film on Monday at 5:15 p.m. ET/PT, with a repeat at 1:30 a.m. ET/PT. It’s worth a look.

--Christopher Knight

Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Maman 1999’ in front of the Tate Modern in London in 2007. Credit: Nathan Strange / Associated Press

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Louise Bourgeois dies at 98

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