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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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Cat. No. 419.1/VII

Dream

State/Variant:
Version 1 of 2, state VII of X
Date:
1939
Alternate Title:
Sleeping Girl
Themes:
Architecture, Figures, Nature, Objects
Techniques:
Relief
Description:
Woodcut, with black and gray oil-based ink additions
Support:
Smooth, wove Japanese paper
Dimensions:
composition: 9 15/16 x 14 1/8" (25.2 x 35.8 cm); sheet: 11 13/16 x 17 15/16" (30 x 45.5 cm)
Signature:
"L.B." lower right margin, pencil.
Inscription:
The alternate title "Sleeping Girl" derives from an inscription on another known impression of this composition.
Publisher:
unpublished
Printer:
The artist
Edition:
1 known impression of version 1, state VII
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.

Matrices:
The progression of this composition, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 6 blocks and 14 colors.

Block 1: woman, table, vase, wall, and floor.

Block 2: linear pattern in lower right composition and amorphous pattern in upper left composition.

Block 3: background surface with cut-away area encompassing woman and table.

Block 4: geometric pattern in upper left, abstract pattern in top center, and abstract form in bottom center.

Block 5: recut image of block 1.

Block 6: recut image of block 2.
State Changes and Additions:
Block 2 printed in navy, over block 1 printed in brown and dark gray, over block 3 printed in light blue.
Change from version 1, state VI: block 3 added and printed partially.
Artist’s Remarks:
“Dream is a self-portrait,” Bourgeois said, “a portrait of a mood, a very dark mood. The woman is crying. She is homesick. She is probably waiting for a letter, a letter that never comes.” (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 41.)
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 7
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
120.1990

Dream
1939

First Version

Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state I of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state II of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state III of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state IV of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state V of X, variant
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state V of X, variant
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state VI of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state VII of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state VIII of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state IX of X
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 1 of 2, state X of X
1939

Second Version

Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 2 of 2, state I of IV
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 2 of 2, state II of IV
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 2 of 2, state III of IV
1939
Louise Bourgeois. Dream. 1939
Version 2 of 2, state IV of IV
1939