LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Body Parts, Figures, Motherhood & Family

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 6 15/16 × 4 15/16" (17.6 × 12.6 cm); sheet: 9 7/16 × 8 5/16" (24 × 21.1 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

2 known impressions of state III

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition at any state.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state II, by burnishing: arms partially removed.
Changes from state II, in drypoint: arms and hands slightly reconfigured; figure further delineated.

Curatorial Remarks:

Toward the end of her life, Bourgeois made a large body of red gouache drawings related to the theme of Motherhood & Family. Bourgeois usually made several iterations of each scene, exploring pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding, among other subjects related to new life. Some drawings were used as source works for print compositions. As the print composition evolved, Bourgeois continued to explore the same subject through drawing. See Related Works in Other Mediums below for examples.

There are signs of burnishing in the figure's open mouth, suggesting that it may have been shaded in at one point. However, there are no known impressions that have this feature. It is possible that the impression was destroyed or that the change was made exclusively on the plate.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

1554.2012

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY