LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Faces & Portraits, Objects

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with selective wiping

Support:

Smooth, wove Hahnemühle paper

Dimensions:

plate: 11 7/8 x 9 7/8" (30.2 x 25.1 cm); sheet: 17 1/8 x 15 1/16" (43.5 x 38.2 cm)

Signature:

"Louise Bourgeois 1999" lower right margin, pencil.

Publisher:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

25 on paper; plus 7 A.P., 5 P.P., 2 H.C., 1 B.A.T., and an edition of 5 on fabric

Impression:

"AP 6/7" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.

Edition Information:

There is 1 known variant impression of state III, outside the two editions.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state II in drypoint: further delineation of figure's upper head.

Curatorial Remarks:

Bourgeois alludes here to the episode in Marcel Proust's novel "À la recherche du temps perdu" (Remembrance of Things Past) in which the protagonist bites into a madeleine and is suddenly transported back in time, recalling the story of his life.

Publisher Harlan & Weaver groups the editioned state of this composition on paper with ten other drypoints of 1999, under the title, “11 Drypoints.” Each of the 11 compositions can be displayed individually. The full set is as follows:
“The Accident”
“The Angry Cat”
“Don’t Put Your Foot in Your Mouth”
“Fear”
“Feet (Socks)”
“Fences Are Obsolete”
“Madeleine”
“Mosquito”
“Mother and Child”
“Please Hang in There”
“The Smell of the Feet”

Bibliography:

Malbert, Roger, and Juliet Mitchell. "Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical Prints." London: Hayward, 2016. (Catalogue accompanying the touring exhibition "Louise Bourgeois Prints: Autobiographical Series and 11 Drypoints".)

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

21.2002

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY