LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Figures, Motherhood & Family

Techniques:

Drypoint, Engraving

Description:

Engraving and drypoint, with pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 10 7/8 x 8 3/8" (27.7 x 21.3 cm); sheet: 17 5/16 x 13 3/8" (44 x 34 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state III

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state VIII on fabric.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state II in engraving: female figure's head and upper body further delineated; baby's hair further delineated.
Changes from state II by burnishing: female figure's facial features removed.
Additions in pencil: female figure's facial features delineated and thumbs reconfigured, both anticipating state IV.

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.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

1008.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY