Louise Bourgeois. Paternity, plate 12 of 14, from the portfolio, Autobiographical Series (1994)

Select a search filter from the categories below.

Years		Themes		Techniques		Featured Printers & Publishers
1930s–1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s		Abstraction Animals & Insects Architecture Body Parts Fabric Works Faces & Portraits Figures Motherhood & Family Music Nature Objects Spiders Spirals Words		Aquatint Digital Drypoint Engraving Etching Lithography Photogravure Relief Screenprint Other Techniques		Atelier 17 Carolina Nitsch Editions Dyenamix Harlan & Weaver Lison Editions Louise Bourgeois Osiris Peter Blum Edition Procuniar Workshop SOLO Impression Wingate Studio

Previous Next Showing 125 of 184

Previous Next

Louise Bourgeois. Paternity, plate 12 of 14, from the portfolio, Autobiographical Series. 1994

IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 441/V

Paternity, plate 12 of 14, from the portfolio, Autobiographical Series

State/Variant:: State V of V
Date:: 1994
Portfolio:: Autobiographical Series (View All)

Themes:: Figures, Motherhood & Family, Objects
Techniques:: Drypoint
Description:: Drypoint
Support:: Smooth, wove Somerset paper
Dimensions:: plate: 4 3/4 x 8 15/16" (12 x 22.7 cm); sheet: 13 3/8 x 22 5/8" (34 x 57.4 cm)
Signature:: "LB" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher:: Peter Blum Edition, New York
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 35; plus 10 H.C.
Impression:: "III/X" lower left margin, pencil, unknown hand.
State Changes and Additions:: Change from state IV, in drypoint: baby’s face added.
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.

Bourgeois was married to American art historian, Robert Goldwater. The couple had three children: Michel, Jean-Louis, and Alain.
Artist’s Remarks:: Inscribed on state I: "Life itself / growth of the plant / growth of the child / l'image d'epinal." left upper margin, pencil, artist's hand; "supress the / picture" right middle margin, pencil, artist's hand; "paternity" lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand; "[illeg.] / madonna and child / turned into Robt (Paternity) / Robt is put on a pedestal / I take care of the 2nd best / who is older Michel is five / [illeg.]" lower middle margin, pencil, artist's hand; "Robert was taking care of Jean-Louis as a Baby / 333 E. 41st Tudor City" lower middle margin, pencil, Jerry Gorovoy's hand.
Installation Remarks:: The prints in this portfolio can be shown as a group or individually. There is no required sequence.
Curatorial Remarks:: Jerry Gorovoy is the artist's assistant.

The source drawing for this work was not available for reproduction. It can, however, be viewed on microfilm at the Archives of American Art, reel 90, frame 105.

Of the 14 plates in "Autobiographical Series," Bourgeois titled this plate and plate 6. The untitled plates have been assigned descriptive titles for cataloguing purposes.
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:: 74.1997.12
This Work in Other Collections:: Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Québec
Museu da Gravura Cidade de Curitiba, Brazil
Tate Modern, London