LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Architecture

Techniques:

Engraving

Description:

Engraving

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 6 x 1 1/2" (15.2 x 3.8 cm); sheet: 11 1/8 x 7 1/2" (28.3 x 19 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Gravure, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of version 1

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition at any state.

Background:

Bourgeois admired the printing facilities of the Gravure workshop and also felt a personal rapport with the owner and master printer, Christian Guérin. Guérin helped the artist develop plates for several important projects in the early 1990s, including this composition, which is related to her 1947 illustrated book, “He Disappeared into Complete Silence” (see Related Works in the Catalogue). Bourgeois had long hoped to reissue this book but the plates no longer existed. She thought Guérin might assist her. In order to determine if his engraving would be suitable for the project, she asked him to attempt similar compositions. After these trials, he assisted in engraving versions of plates 2 and 6 of “He Disappeared into Complete Silence.”

Former Cat. No.:

W & S B11

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

555.1993

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY