Louise Bourgeois. Feet (Socks) (1999)

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Cat. No. 362/I, variant 2

Feet (Socks)

State/Variant:: State I of III, variant
Date:: 1999

Themes:: Body Parts, Music, Objects
Techniques:: Drypoint
Description:: Drypoint, with chine collé, and red and blue watercolor, and red and black ink additions
Support:: Smooth, wove paper, with music paper chine collé
Dimensions:: plate: 11 15/16 x 9 15/16" (30.4 x 25.2 cm); sheet: 16 1/2 x 14 1/16" (41.9 x 35.7 cm)
Signature:: "LB" lower right margin, red ink and "LB" (upside-down) upper left margin, black ink.
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 2 known variant impressions of state I
Impression:: "AP" lower left margin, red ink and "AP" (upside-down) upper right margin, black ink, artist's hand
Edition Information:: Proof before the editioning of state III on paper and on fabric.

The "AP" inscriptions, in the artist's hand, do not indicate conventional A.P. impressions, which would be of the final state.
State Changes and Additions:: Additions in red ink: contours reconfigured and toenails delineated, anticipating state II.
Additions in black ink: vertical hanging line at top of each foot delineated, anticipating state II.
Curatorial Remarks:: 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”
Other Remarks:: According to the Louise Bourgeois Studio, the initials and inscriptions repeated twice indicate that the composition can be hung with the feet in either orientation.

Publisher Harlan & Weaver adds that the artist was inspired here by the cardboard stiffeners from a pair of socks. When she received dry-cleaning or new clothes, she would often draw on the inserts.
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:: 902.2008