Louise Bourgeois. The Obese Woman (2001)

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IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 510.1/VII, variant 1

The Obese Woman

State/Variant:: Version 1 of 2, state VII of VII, variant
Date:: 2001

Alternate Title:: The Smile
Descriptive Title:: Woman Leaning on a Column
Themes:: Figures, Objects
Techniques:: Aquatint, Drypoint, Engraving
Description:: Drypoint, aquatint, and engraving, with red ink additions
Support:: Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:: plate: 11 7/8 x 10 1/16" (30.2 x 25.5 cm); sheet: 16 9/16 x 13 1/8" (42 x 33.3 cm)
Signature:: Not signed
Inscription:: Verso: "food distributio [sic] customer" lower center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 3 known impressions of version 1, state VII
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: Proof before the editioning of version 2, state IV.
State Changes and Additions:: Changes from version 1, state VI, in aquatint: tone added to floor and shoes.
Changes from version 1, state VI, in drypoint: lock of hair between hands filled in.
Changes from version 1, state VI, in engraving: some lines reinforced.
Curatorial Remarks:: To create the editioned version of this composition, Bourgeois began with "The Obese Woman," which depicts a woman leaning on a column. She developed the image through a series of state changes before abandoning the idea of depicting a full figure. In the second version, "The Smile," only the top part of the composition was transferred to a new plate. Carbon transfers of the preexisting imagery were used to aid in the process of developing the reconfigured composition.

"The Smile" was editioned as the unbound frontispiece for the 2001 book "Louise Bourgeois: Destruction of the Father - Reconstruction of the Father, Schriften und Interviews, 1923-2000," seen below in Related Works in Other Mediums. Edited by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, and published by Ammann Verlag, Zurich, the German reissue is an updated version of the 1998 book published by Violette, London. The 2001 book is a hardcover and comes in a slipcase.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 1526.2008