Cat. No. 1336
The Blue Fear
- State/Variant:
- Only state
- Date:
- c. 1989
- Descriptive Title:
-
Horizontal Bands
- Themes:
- Abstraction
- Techniques:
- Etching
- Description:
- Etching
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 6 7/8 x 4 15/16" (17.5 x 12.6 cm); sheet: 15 3/8 x 11 5/8" (39 x 29.5 cm)
- Signature:
- Not signed
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
- Edition:
- 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Proof before the editioning of the only state.
Outside the edition of 3, there is a diptych composition which combines this plate with the plate editioned as “The Pink Fear.” The diptych was published as part of the illustrated book, "One's Sleep." In the illustrated book edition, each book includes 18 plates with hand additions. Both the dyptich composition and “The Pink Fear” can be seen below in Related Works in the Catalogue. - Background:
- In 1989, to help Bourgeois prepare for what would be a major project together, "the puritan," Ben Shiff of Osiris, New York, provided her with test plates on which she made various technical experiments. The editioned plates "The Blue Fear" and "The Pink Fear" developed from one of these experiments. Bourgeois and Shiff returned to the composition in 2003, creating impressions for inclusion in the book, “One’s Sleep".
- Former Cat. No.:
- W & S B5
- MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 656.1993
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY