Louise Bourgeois. La Famille (2005)

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NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 767/II

La Famille

State/Variant:: State II of III
Date:: 2005

Descriptive Title:: English translation: "The Family"
Themes:: Abstraction, Motherhood & Family
Techniques:: Etching
Description:: Soft ground etching
Support:: Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:: plate: 55 5/8 × 16 13/16" (141.3 × 42.7 cm); sheet: 60 1/2 × 19 1/2" (153.7 × 49.5 cm)
Signature:: "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Inscription:: "2nd state" left lower margin, pencil, artist's hand.
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:: 1 known impression of state II
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: Proof before the editioning of state III.

About the "La Famille" edition:
The artist's inscriptions on the proofs before the edition indicate there were once 4 states of this composition. According to the publisher Ben Shiff of Osiris, New York, the only impression of state III was destroyed by the artist. The progression of this composition was thus determined by what is found on the existing prints, and state IV is now state III.

Selective wiping varies from impression to impression.

There is 1 known impression of state III, outside the edition. It is signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right margin and inscribed "4th state" in the lower left margin by the artist, both in pencil.

Outside the edition, there are 3 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with another plate in a multi-panel work. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with another plate, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"La Famille (#1)"
"La Famille"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"You Touched Me!"
State Changes and Additions:: Changes from state I, in etching: form in center comp. slightly reinforced.
Background:: Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.