LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Figures, Motherhood & Family, Objects

Techniques:

Aquatint, Drypoint

Description:

Portfolio with 14 compositions: 10 drypoints, 4 drypoints with aquatint

Support:

Smooth, wove, Somerset paper

Dimensions:

portfolio: 23 1/16 x 15 15/16 x 9/16" (58.5 x 40.5 x 1.5 cm). Plate and sheet sizes vary throughout. See individual.

Signature:

"LB" or "LB." lower right margin, pencil, each plate.

Publisher:

Peter Blum Edition, New York

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

35; plus 10 H.C.

Impression:

"III/X" lower left margin, each plate.

Housing:

Publisher's portfolio: gray fabric lined with cream paper, with paper flaps and two ribbon ties.

Background:

Bourgeois was often inspired by the subjects of early drawings when creating works at much later dates. This 1994 portfolio is an example of a project based primarily on drawings from the 1940s and referring to her life in New York at that time. The exceptions are as follows: plate 1, based on a drawing from 1986 that references childbirth; plates 4 and 9, based on drawings from the 1940s but depicting memories of her childhood years in France; plate 11, most probably based on a drawing from the 1940s of a European hotel desk.

Installation Remarks:

The prints in this portfolio can be shown as a group or individually. There is no required sequence.

Curatorial Remarks:

Of the 14 plates in "Autobiographical Series," Bourgeois titled plates 6 and 12. The untitled plates have been assigned descriptive titles for cataloguing purposes.

Bourgeois made three additional compositions that she considered for inclusion in the portfolio (see Related Works in the Catalogue). They were ultimately excluded from publication.

Bibliography:

Malbert, Roger, and Juliet Mitchell. "Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical Prints." London: Hayward, 2016. (Catalogue accompanying the touring exhibition "Louise Bourgeois Prints: Autobiographical Series and 11 Drypoints".)

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

74.1997.1-14

This Work in Other Collections:

Tate Modern, London

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY