LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Figures, Motherhood & Family

Techniques:

Other

Description:

Roulette, with red pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 10 7/8 x 8 3/8" (27.7 x 21.3 cm); sheet: 15 1/4 x 11 1/4" (38.8 x 28.5 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Sarah V, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state I

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state VIII on fabric.

State Changes and Additions:

Additions in red pencil: reinforced overall, anticipating state II.

Background:

"Umbilical Cord" relates to a monumental installation for the inaugural exhibition in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in 2000. The installation consisted of "Maman," a 30' steel sculpture of a spider, and "I Do, I Undo, I Redo," three steel towers ranging in height from 42' to 57'. Each tower contained a different sculpture of a mother and child inside a bell jar. The sculpture in the tower titled, "I Redo," featured a mother and child attached by an umbilical cord. Bourgeois also made another related print called "Do Not Abandon Me," 2000, which includes a similar mother and child.

Other Remarks:

According to Felix Harlan of Harlan & Weaver print workshop, Bourgeois initially worked with printer Sarah V on this project. In state I, Sarah V transferred the composition onto the plate using a roulette. Bourgeois then asked Harlan & Weaver to hire Sarah V as a workshop printer in order to carry on with this project. The subsequent states were done under the auspices of Harlan & Weaver and, thus, they are credited as printer.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

1006.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY