LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Architecture, Nature, Words

Techniques:

Lithography

Description:

Lithograph

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

composition: 4 1/2 x 4 13/16" (11.5 x 12.3 cm); sheet: 5 x 6 15/16" (12.8 x 17.7 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower left comp., black lithograph.

Publisher:

The artist

Edition:

c. 250 (according to the artist)

Impression:

Not numbered

Background:

From 1938—1946, Bourgeois made her own printed holiday cards. In the late decades of her life, she again turned to prints as holiday gifts for a small circle of friends.

This card was executed for Bourgeois's first Christmas and New Year holiday in New York, and includes motifs from Paris, on the left, and New York City, on the right, with a ship in the center distance alluding to her recent ocean voyage to her new home in the United States. The Left Bank of Paris where she had lived is represented by the tower of the church Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the name "2 MAGOTS," referring to the café Deux-Magots, an artists' rendezvous. The abstract form at the left edge is a Christmas tree.

This lithograph was printed at a commercial printshop.

Curatorial Remarks:

The 1938 date is from a photocopy of "St. Germain" inscribed with the date in MoMA Collection records.

Former Cat. No.:

W & S 1

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

228.1992

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY