
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Cat. No. 1012, unique variant 1
Les Oiseaux 1
- State/Variant:
- Only state, unique variant
- Date:
- 2009
- Descriptive Title:
-
English translation: "The Birds"
- Themes:
- Animals & Insects, Words
- Techniques:
- Aquatint
- Description:
- Aquatint, with blue and white gouache, and blue and red watercolor additions
- Support:
- Smooth, wove Arches paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 49 7/8 × 35 3/4" (126.7 × 90.8 cm); sheet: 56 1/4 × 39 1/4" (142.9 × 99.7 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB / Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
- Publisher:
- Osiris, New York
- Printer:
- Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
- Edition:
- Unique
- Impression:
- Verso: "les oiseaux / #1" lower center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
- Edition Information:
- "Les Oiseaux" was published as 3 unique variants, each with varying hand additions. The inking of the plate also varies from impression to impression. For comparison, see the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
- Curatorial Remarks:
- By examining the cancellation proof, it was determined that the word "Rouges" was etched in the lower center composition under "oiseaux." In this impression, hand additions obscure most of the word. In the other impressions of this composition, the word was not inked at all.
"Les Oiseaux Rouges" is the title of a film by Brigitte Cornand, a French filmmaker who worked closely with Bourgeois in the last years of her life.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY