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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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Cat. No. 672/II

Rayons de Soleil Sur la Mer

State/Variant:
State II of III
Date:
c. 1948
Alternate Title:
Seascape
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "Sunshine on the Sea"
Themes:
Nature
Techniques:
Drypoint, Engraving
Description:
Engraving and drypoint
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 4 15/16 x 6 3/4" (12.6 x 17.2 cm); sheet: 5 5/16 x 11 1/4" (13 x 28.5 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower left margin, pencil.
Inscription:
"2" lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand. Verso: "top. / floating shapes / not hanging 5 x 7 / Rays of / Sun / Rayons du soleil / sur la mer / 12 [circled] / seascape" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Publisher:
unpublished
Printer:
The artist at Atelier 17, New York
Edition:
1 known impression of state II
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in engraving: additional full and abbreviated lines added to upper composition; crosshatching added in upper center composition; left side of central shape reinforced.
Artist’s Remarks:
This is "an ascension.... The metaphors in nature are very strong... nature is a mode of communication." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 132.)
Curatorial Remarks:
In the second half of the 1940s, Bourgeois spent time at Atelier 17, the print workshop of Stanley William Hayter. The workshop had transferred operations from Paris to New York during the war years. It is not known precisely which prints she made at the workshop since she also worked at home on a small press. The designation of “the artist at Atelier 17” as printer means that the impression was likely made at the workshop. The designation is based on dates, inscriptions, techniques favored at Atelier 17, and/or stylistic similarities to images in the illustrated book “He Disappeared into Complete Silence,” which the artist repeatedly cited as having been made at Atelier 17. It is also possible that Bourgeois worked on certain plates both at home and at the workshop, or pulled impressions at both places.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 63
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
158.1990.2

Rayons de Soleil Sur la Mer
c. 1948

States

Louise Bourgeois. Rayons de Soleil Sur la Mer. c. 1948
State I of III
c. 1948
Louise Bourgeois. Rayons de Soleil Sur la Mer. c. 1948
State II of III
c. 1948
Louise Bourgeois. Rayons de Soleil Sur la Mer. c. 1948
State III of III
c. 1948