Louise Bourgeois. A Mirror of You (2007)

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NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 809, unique variant 2

A Mirror of You

State/Variant:: Only state, unique variant
Date:: 2007

Alternate Title:: Incognito
Themes:: Abstraction, Objects
Techniques:: Etching
Description:: panel (a): Pencil
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with watercolor and gouache additions
panel (c): Pencil
Support:: Paper (3 attached sheets)
Dimensions:: plate: 59 1/8 × 19 9/16" (150.1 × 49.7 cm); sheet (overall): 59 7/8 × 82" (152.1 × 208.3 cm)
Signature:: panel (c): "LB" lower right sheet, pencil.
Inscription:: panel (a): "Please be a mirror of me / as I am willing to be / a mirror of you" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (c): "Please be a mirror of me / as I am willing to be a mirror / of / you" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Publisher:: Osiris, New York
Printer:: Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:: Unique
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: This is one of 8 unique variants outside the edition that 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 other plates, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
Untitled, plate 8 of 9, from the illustrated book, "Differentiate"
"A Mirror of You"
Untitled, no. 2 of 5, from the series, "When Did This Happen?"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"Dizzy Spells"
Untitled, no. 2 of 3, from the series, "This Need"
"Time"
"Don't Swallow Me!"
"Euphoria"

About the "Incognito" edition:
Within the edition, sheet size varies slightly from impression to impression. There is 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition. It is inscribed "first proof" in the lower left composition by the artist, and signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right composition, both in pencil.

There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.
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 color of the hand additions and 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 sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.