I met Anne in 1973. She was living in an apartment on the far South Side of Chicago in a neighborhood called Roseland.
I can tell you it was pretty much love at first sight (at least on my part) and we ended up getting married three years later.
I’m thinking of this now because in 1973 in the kitchen of her apartment above a storefront in Roseland was the most amazing collection of spices I had ever seen. Anne made her own curries. She had fenugreek and cardamom and things I had never heard of.
Anne’s father was an art historian. When she was a little girl, Anne explained, she would go with her mom and dad to visit the Manhattan apartment of Robert Goldwater, a noted historian of primitive art, and his wife, the French-born sculptor Louise Bourgeois.
Bourgeois had a collection of spices in her kitchen. It greatly impressed Anne.
We still have a huge collection of spices in our kitchen, which we sometimes refer to as the “Louise Bourgeois Memorial Spice Rack.”
Anne’s parents died about five years ago. But a few years before that, Anne’s dad gave Louise Bourgeois a phone call.
Robert Goldwater had died in 1973 and following Goldwater’s death, Louise’s reputation as a sculptor simply exploded. So, while decades had passed since they last talked, Anne’s dad wanted our daughter, Leigh (a wonderful artist herself), to meet Bourgeois.
Bourgeois, who was in her early 90s, was very happy with the reconnection and invited Anne’s dad and Leigh to her New York studio. From all reports, they had very pleasant afternoon.
Louise Bourgeois died today at the age of 98.
Fred Klonsky 