LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Body Parts, Objects

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with black ink additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 11 7/8 x 9 15/16" (30.2 x 25.3 cm); sheet: 15 3/8 x 10 15/16" (39 x 27.8 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower right margin and "LB" upper left margin, both black ink.

Inscription:

Verso: "SAPERLIPOPETTE! Qui pete?" lower center sheet, black ink, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state II

Impression:

"AP" lower left margin and "AP" (upside-down) upper right margin, both black ink, artist's hand.

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state III on paper and on fabric.

The "AP" inscriptions, in the artist's hand, do not indicate conventional A.P. impressions, which would be of the final state.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state I by burnishing: contour lines from big toes to arches, and around left heel, removed.
Changes from state I in drypoint: arches reconfigured; heels slightly reconfigured, and upper portions of both feet slightly enlarged; toenails delineated; vertical hanging line at top of each foot delineated.
Additions in black ink: toe and toenail outlines reinforced, anticipating state III.

Curatorial Remarks:

Publisher Harlan & Weaver groups the editioned state of this composition on paper 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”

Other Remarks:

According to the Louise Bourgeois Studio, the initials and inscriptions repeated twice indicate that the composition can be hung with the feet in either orientation.

Publisher Harlan & Weaver adds that the artist was inspired here by the cardboard stiffeners from a pair of socks. When she received dry-cleaning or new clothes, she would often draw on the inserts.

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".)

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

903.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY