Louise Bourgeois. Good Mother, plate 17 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait (2009)

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Louise Bourgeois. Good Mother, plate 17 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait. 2009

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Cat. No. 472

Good Mother, plate 17 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait

State/Variant:: Only state
Date:: 2009
Series:: Self Portrait (View All)

Themes:: Body Parts, Fabric Works, Faces & Portraits, Figures, Motherhood & Family
Techniques:: Drypoint
Description:: Drypoint
Support:: Fabric
Dimensions:: plate: 4 15/16 x 3 3/8" (12.5 x 8.6 cm); sheet: 15 1/2 x 12 1/2" (39.4 x 31.8 cm)
Signature:: "LB" right lower margin, stitched in brown thread.
Publisher:: The artist
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 5; plus 1 A.P.
Impression:: "No. 3/5" lower middle sheet verso, black ink, unknown hand.
Edition Information:: There is 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition. The additional impression is not illustrated, due to its similarity to the impression seen here.

All 24 sheets that comprise set no. 1/5 are mounted on a single large table cloth and arranged in the formation of a clock. See the first work titled "Self Portrait" in Related Works in the Catalogue below. That composition includes, above the clock, at top left, one additional drypoint printed by Harlan & Weaver, New York, and at top middle and top right, two digital prints printed by Dyenamix, New York. Set nos. 2/5–5/5 and A.P. 1/1 do not include these three additional prints.

There are variations in the fabrics used in this edition, as is commonly found in the old fabrics Bourgeois chose to use as printing surfaces.

Dimensions vary slightly throughout the edition because of hemming and stretching fluctuations.
Background:: This series depicts the story of Bourgeois’s life. Beginning with an image of a young girl, it progresses through marriage and having children, and finally, to predominant themes in the artist's work.

The figure in this composition resembles the costumed performers Bourgeois dressed in latex costumes in “A Banquet/ A Fashion Show of Body Parts,” performed in conjunction with the installation, “Confrontation,” at the Hamilton Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York, in 1978.

Earlier, in 1975, Bourgeois was photographed in front of her house on 20th Street “wearing” her latex sculpture, “Avenza.” That sculpture was ultimately incorporated into the “Confrontation” installation.
Installation Remarks:: The 24 compositions that make up this series can be exhibited together or individually.
Curatorial Remarks:: There are no source drawings for this series, unlike for many of Bourgeois's prints.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 110.2012.17