Welcome to MoMA.org. To take full advantage of all the site’s features, including the option to save works in the collection, please upgrade your browser to Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer 9. See our help page for more information.
plate: 11 7/8 x 9 15/16" (30.1 x 25.2 cm); sheet: 14 15/16 x 11" (38 x 28 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower right margin, pencil.
Inscription:
Verso: "I did not like him, but I depended on him for my bread and butter" across top sheet, pencil; "he was fabricating a fake in the back of the store/ Michel Suphor (sic - Seuphor)" center sheet, pencil; "Done Deal # 1" lower right sheet, pencil; "Aug 99" lower right sheet, pencil; all artist's hand.
Proof outside the editions of state III on paper and on fabric.
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 II by burnishing: earlier contour lines partially removed. Changes from state II in drypoint: toe and toenail contours reinforced; outlines reinforced overall.
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 publisher Harlan & Weaver, 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".)
If you are interested in reproducing images from The Museum of Modern Art web site, please visit the Image Permissions page (www.moma.org/permissions). For additional information about using content from MoMA.org, please visit About this Site (www.moma.org/site).