LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

The Angry Cat

Themes:

Animals & Insects, Faces & Portraits

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with blue watercolor, red ink, and pencil additions

Support:

Paper

Dimensions:

plate: 9 15/16 x 11 15/16" (25.2 x 30.3 cm); sheet: 13 13/16 x 16 1/4" (35.1 x 41.3 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower right comp., black ink; "LB" lower right margin, black ink.

Inscription:

Verso: "Champfleurette / #2." lower center to right sheet, red ink, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state V

Impression:

"AP." lower left margin, black ink, artist's hand.

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state VII.

The "AP." inscription, in the artist's hand, does not indicate a conventional A.P. impression, which would be of the final state.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state IV by burnishing: nose removed.
Changes from state IV in drypoint: mouth, ears, and small, elliptical forms on top, left, and right contours of cat’s face, all further shaded; eyes enlarged; elliptical form added at nose.

Background:

In the 1950s, when Bourgeois was living with her husband and children in an apartment on 18th Street in New York City, the family had two cats: Champfleurette and Tyger.

Curatorial Remarks:

States I-VI of this composition are each titled "Champfleurette #2." The editioned state, state VII, is titled "The Angry Cat." (See also the 1993-1994 print, “Champfleurette, The White Cat,” in Related Works in the Catalogue below.)

The type of paper and plate dimensions are not documented because this impression is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the published impression in MoMA's Collection.

Publisher Harlan & Weaver groups the editioned state of this composition with ten other drypoints of 1999, under the title, “11 Drypoints.” Each of the 11 compositions can be displayed individually. The full set is as follows:
“The Accident”
“The Angry Cat”
“Don’t Put Your Foot in Your Mouth”
“Fear”
“Feet (Socks)”
“Fences Are Obsolete”
“Madeleine”
“Mosquito”
“Mother and Child”
“Please Hang in There”
“The Smell of the Feet”

A tea towel merchandise item was made from a variant of state II (Cat. No. 404/II, variant 1). A mouse pad merchandise item was made from a different variant of state II (Cat. No. 404/II, variant 2). A t-shirt merchandise item was made from state VI (Cat. No. 404/VI).

Bibliography:

Malbert, Roger, and Juliet Mitchell. "Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical Prints." London: Hayward, 2016. (Catalogue accompanying the touring exhibition "Louise Bourgeois Prints: Autobiographical Series and 11 Drypoints".)

Public Collection:

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY