Louise Bourgeois. The Smile (2001)

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IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 510.2/IV

The Smile

State/Variant:: Version 2 of 2, state IV of IV
Date:: 2001

Descriptive Title:: Woman Leaning on a Column
Themes:: Faces & Portraits, Objects
Techniques:: Drypoint
Description:: Drypoint, with selective wiping
Support:: Smooth, wove Hahnemühle paper
Dimensions:: plate: 4 15/16 x 6 15/16" (12.5 x 17.6 cm); sheet: 9 3/4 x 11 1/4" (24.8 x 28.6 cm)
Signature:: "Louise Bourgeois 2001" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher:: Ammann Verlag, Zurich
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 50; plus 10 A.P., 5 P.P., 3 H.C.
Impression:: "ap 6/10" lower left margin, pencil, unknown hand.
Edition Information:: "The Smile" was editioned as the unbound frontispiece for the 2001 book "Louise Bourgeois: Destruction of the Father - Reconstruction of the Father, Schriften und Interviews, 1923-2000," seen below in Related Works in Other Mediums. Edited by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, and published by Ammann Verlag, Zurich, the German reissue is an updated version of the 1998 book published by Violette, London. The 2001 book is a hardcover and comes in a slipcase.

A.P.s 1/10-4/10 and P.P. 1/5 are cut to size for the book, with sheets measuring at 6 x 8 11/16" (15.3 x 22 cm). The remaining A.P.s and P.P.s are on larger sheets, measuring at 9 3/4 x 11 1/4" (24.8 x 28.6 cm). See examples of each in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
State Changes and Additions:: Changes from version 1, in drypoint: top part of composition transferred to new plate and increased in scale.
Changes from version 2, state III, by burnishing: light line on shoulder removed.
Changes from version 2, state III, in drypoint: some beads on necklace filled in.
Curatorial Remarks:: To create the editioned version of this composition, Bourgeois began with "The Obese Woman," which depicts a woman leaning on a column. She developed the image through a series of state changes before abandoning the idea of depicting a full figure. In the second version, "The Smile," only the top part of the composition was transferred to a new plate. Carbon transfers of the preexisting imagery were used to aid in the process of developing the reconfigured composition.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 41.2002
This Work in Other Collections:: Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Switzerland