LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Nature, Words

Techniques:

Drypoint, Engraving

Description:

Drypoint and engraving, with red ink additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 21 15/16 x 26" (55.7 x 66 cm); sheet: 27 9/16 x 31 1/8" (70 x 79 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

2 known impressions of version 2, state III

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of version 2, state IX.

State Changes and Additions:

Matrices:
The progression of this version 2, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 3 plates.

Plate 1: overall composition, printed in black.
Plate 2: hatching in trees, printed in red.
Plate 3: shading along left, upper, and right contours of plate, printed in blue.

State Changes:
Plate 2, printed in red, over plate 1, printed in black.
Changes from version 2, state II, in drypoint: several letters reworked.
Changes from version 2, state II, in engraving: hatching in trees added.
Changes from version 2, state II, by burnishing: distress marks and pathway removed; several semi-burnished lines within trees further removed.

Background:

Louise Bourgeois, her husband Robert Goldwater, and their son Michel Bourgeois are all buried in Cutchogue Cemetery, Cutchogue, New York. This composition was initially developed as a benefit for The Friends of Cutchogue Cemetery Association, but the benefit did not come to fruition.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

1565.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY