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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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Cat. No. 583/II, variant

La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation

State/Variant:
State II of IV, variant
Date:
2001
Alternate Title:
The Needle
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "The Reparation"
Themes:
Objects
Techniques:
Drypoint, Engraving
Description:
Drypoint and engraving, with red ink additions
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 10 7/8 x 8 3/8" (27.7 x 21.2 cm); sheet: 15 9/16 x 11" (39.5 x 28 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher:
unpublished
Printer:
Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:
2 known impressions of state II
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of state IV.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, by burnishing: lines in two pliers partially removed.
Changes from state I, in engraving: thread re-drawn.
Artist’s Remarks:
"My mother would sit out in the sun and repair a tapestry or a petit point. She really loved it. This sense of reparation is very deep within me.
I break everything I touch because I am violent. I destroy my friendships, my love, my children. People would not generally suspect it, but the cruelty is there in the work. I break things because I am afraid and I spend my time repairing. I am a sadist because I am afraid. Yet the reconciliations between people never really stick." (Quote cited in Meyer-Thoss, Christiane. "Louise Bourgeois: Designing for Free Fall." Zurich: Ammann, 1992, p. 187.)
Installation Remarks:
The prints in this portfolio can be shown as a group, or individually.
Other Remarks:
According to Bourgeois's assistant Jerry Gorovoy, the artist sometimes used pliers to push her threaded needle through the thick fabric of her stuffed sculptures. An example is included in Related Works in Other Mediums below. Gorovoy also noted that Bourgeois may have traced actual tools to create this composition, similiarly to how she traced common household objects to develop the 2006 print series, "Lullaby."
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
1121.2008
This Work in Other Collections:
Tate Modern, London (state IV)

La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio La Réparation
2001-2003

Source
2001

NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. The Needle. 2001
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION The Needle
Ink and pencil on paper
2001

States

Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State I of IV
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State II of IV
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State II of IV, variant
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State III of IV, variant
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State III of IV, variant
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State III of IV, variant
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State III of IV, variant
2001
Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2001
State III of IV, variant
2001
Published Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation. 2003
State IV of IV
2003

Portfolio
2003

Louise Bourgeois. La Réparation. 2003
La Réparation
2003
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