Louise Bourgeois. Happiness (2009)

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IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 689.1/II, variant 1

Happiness

State/Variant:: Version 1 of 2, state II of IV, variant
Date:: 2009

Descriptive Title:: Five Breasts
Themes:: Body Parts, Figures, Motherhood & Family, Nature
Techniques:: Drypoint, Engraving
Description:: Drypoint and engraving
Support:: Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:: plate: 4 15/16 × 6 15/16" (12.6 × 17.7 cm); sheet: 9 1/2 × 10 7/8" (24.1 × 27.7 cm)
Signature:: Not signed
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 3 known impressions of version 1, state II
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: Not issued as a published edition at any state.
State Changes and Additions:: Matrices:
The progression of version 1 of this composition, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 2 plates in 3 different techniques.

Plate 1, in drypoint and engraving: breasts, mounds, and figures.

Plate 2, in mezzotint: shading.

State Changes:
Plate 1 printed in red.
Changes from version 1, state I, in engraving: breasts and mounds reinforced.
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.

It is conceivable that there was a state prior to version 1, state I, based on printer's inscriptions on the verso of the state I impression. However, the existing impressions do not exhibit print state changes that support this inscription, and no known examples of other states exist. The progression of this composition was thus determined by what is found on the existing prints, and the printer's inscriptions were disregarded.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 1603.2012