LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Faces & Portraits

Techniques:

Drypoint, Engraving

Description:

Drypoint and engraving

Support:

Thin, smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 9 15/16 x 4" (25.2 x 10.1 cm); sheet: 15 15/16 x 9 13/16" (40.5 x 25 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unpublished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.

The additional known impression of this state is in MoMA's Collection (Accession Number: 872.2008). It is not illustrated, due to its similarity to the other impression of state III seen here..

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state II, in engraving: reconfiguration of hands, showing all five fingers.

Artist’s Remarks:

When asked about the source drawing for this composition, Bourgeois replied, "That's fear. The person isn't watching or spying, it's someone hiding. The curtain is like the shutters in the South of France, which keep the sun out, but you're hidden from view." (Quote cited in Bernadac, Marie-Laure and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Editors. Destruction of the Father /Reconstruction of the Father: Writings and Interviews, 1923–1997. London: Violette, 1998, pp. 298-299. Originally published in French in Bernadac, Marie-Laure and Deborah Wye. Louise Bourgeois: Pensées-Plumes. Paris: Centre Pompidou, 1995.)

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

871.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY