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Drypoint, with selective wiping, and red ink and white gouache additions
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 4 15/16 x 8 3/8" (12.5 x 21.3 cm); sheet: 8 1/4 x 11 3/4" (21 x 29.8 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower right margin, red ink. Verso: "Louise Bourgeois" lower right sheet, red ink.
Inscription:
"HC" lower left margin, red ink, artist's hand. Verso: "copper. burin" lower left sheet, red ink, artist's hand; "Hold my bones / together / Nigel Finch / british movie maker" lower right sheet, red ink, artist's hand.
The "HC" inscription, in the artist's hand, does not indicate a conventional H.C. impression, which would be included in an edition.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from version 1, state I, in drypoint: shading increased at left and right ends of shape.
Artist’s Remarks:
Inscribed on the source drawing: "Treaser Trove" (sic) upper right sheet, black ink, artist's hand; "I hold [obscured]" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "Hold my bones / together" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
About the source drawing, 1994: "This is my favorite drawing of all. It is a call for help. It means, 'Keep me together, do not abandon me, hold my bones together.' Speaking of the toi and moi! It should be called 'Friendship, The Value of Friendship.' I made this for Nigel Finch, the filmmaker. He just passed away." (Quote cited in Bourgeois, Louise and Lawrence Rinder. "Louise Bourgeois Drawings and Observations." Berkeley: University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive University of California, Berkeley; Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1995, p. 175.)
Curatorial Remarks:
Nigel Finch (1949-1995) was a British filmmaker. In 1994, he directed a documentary about the artist titled "Louise Bourgeois: No Trespassing."
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