a: off-white ground with wavy horizontal red lines hand-painted in bands that extend onto edges; no backing board b: sheet of brown paper with "No baby." typed repeatedly in six columns with "Yes baby." interspersed three times; "Story of a woman" hand-written at bottom in red; signed in peach at bottom; tacked to wall with two brass tacks through upper corners

%C2%A9 Louise Erdrich

Story of a Woman, 2015

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Hundreds of horizontal blood-red, rhythmical lines like those written by hand on paper, appear on a stretched canvas. The canvas is accompanied by a piece of paper (part of the 94 work), meant to be displayed with the canvas like a museum label, with the words “no baby” typewritten repeatedly in rows, and the words “yes baby” subtly and only sporadically interrupting this pattern.

Distinguished author and artist Louise Erdrich narrates Story of a Woman through painting and prose, with the same attention to detail, tone, and cadence as found in her novels. Story of a Woman is a reflection of being a woman and bearing children as represented by rhythmical brushwork and repetitive text. Together, they form a powerful and universal statement about the nature of womanhood.

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Details
Title
Story of a Woman
Artist Life
American (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), born 1954
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2019.1.4a,b
Curator Approved

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a: off-white ground with wavy horizontal red lines hand-painted in bands that extend onto edges; no backing board b: sheet of brown paper with "No baby." typed repeatedly in six columns with "Yes baby." interspersed three times; "Story of a woman" hand-written at bottom in red; signed in peach at bottom; tacked to wall with two brass tacks through upper corners

© Louise Erdrich

Because of © restrictions, we can only show you a small image of this artwork.