LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

The Prey of an Anxiety

Themes:

Abstraction

Techniques:

Etching

Description:

Soft ground etching

Support:

Paper

Dimensions:

plate: 59 7/16 × 19 3/4" (151 × 50.1 cm); page (each): 59 1/8 × 19 13/16" (150.1 × 50.4 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower left sheet verso of cover, stitched in black thread.

Inscription:

"I am / defined by / what is not. / I am not white / I am not black / neither red nor / blue nor green / nor yellow / neither grape / nor pear / I am a mirror / I am there / I am there / I am not there / You want to know / I am only your image" center page, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

Osiris, New York

Printer:

Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH

Edition:

Unique

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

This is one of 7 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with another plate, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"The Prey of an Anxiety"
Untitled, plate 9 of 9, from the illustrated book, "Differentiate"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"You Are Heading For It"
"Dizzy Spells"
Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the series, "Inner Truths or Outer Truths"
Untitled, no. 2 of 3, from the series, "This Need"
"Euphoria"

About the "The Prey of an Anxiety" edition:
Within the edition, there are slight variations in sheet size. There is 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition. It is inscribed "first proof" in the lower left margin by the artist and signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right margin, both in pencil. There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.

Pagination:

Pages 22 and 23 of 26.

Background:

Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.

Curatorial Remarks:

The pagination of this illustrated book was determined by the Louise Bourgeois Studio and the publisher.

The paper type could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impression in MoMA's Collection. The dimensions of the book were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY