Cat. No. 426/I
Pierre
- State/Variant:
- State I of VI
- Date:
- 1939
- Alternate Title:
-
Birthday
- Themes:
- Figures, Motherhood & Family, Objects
- Techniques:
- Drypoint, Etching
- Description:
- Soft ground etching and drypoint, with selective wiping
- Support:
- Smooth, wove Rives paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 9 15/16 x 6 15/16" (25.2 x 17.7 cm); sheet: 15 7/8 x 11 3/8" (40 x 28.9 cm)
- Signature:
- "L Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
- Inscription:
- "2" right lower margin, pencil, artist's hand; "Birthday" [erased] lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand. Verso: "Birthday / soft ground" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
The alternate title "Birthday" is inscribed on some impressions of this composition, and is the title listed in the exhibition "Art Sale for Armed Services," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942. - Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- The artist
- Edition:
- 1 known impression of state I
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Not issued as a published edition at any state.
Although this composition was not published at any state, two impressions are numbered 4/10, and one is numbered 5/10. - Background:
- Bourgeois had two siblings: Pierre, her younger brother, and Henriette, her older sister.
- Artist’s Remarks:
- "This is Pierre, my brother. He was always on my side. Here, I am a beautiful girl... look at the hair... but I have to be constantly told by my closest friend, my brother. That is the function of my brother... he has this role and he loves it... he is an unpaid and constant admirer. But this was not a luxury for me... this was a necessity. It is the role played today by John, the homeless man on my block," Bourgeois said in 1994. "He brings little presents to please me. I don't fall for it, but it is still nice. Here, Pierre brings me something to please me and I love it... it makes me feel good. Louise can do anything... I need my friends close by, saying, 'You can do no wrong.'" (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 54.)
- Former Cat. No.:
- W & S 17
- MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 229.1992.1
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Pierre
1939
States
State I of VI
1939
1939
State II of VI
1939
1939
State III of VI, variant
1939
1939
State III of VI, variant
1939
1939
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
State III of VI, variant
1939
1939
State IV of VI
1939
1939
State V of VI
1939
1939
State VI of VI
1939
1939
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
