LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Body Parts, Objects

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with blue ink and pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove Somerset paper

Dimensions:

plate: 11 7/8 x 9 15/16" (30.2 x 25.3 cm); sheet (irreg.): 15 3/8 x 11 1/4" (39 x 28.5 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower right margin, pencil.

Inscription:

Verso: "pastel/ sanguine rehaussee./ clean toenails burin on copper" and "Aug 99" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

2 known variant impressions of state III

Impression:

"AP." lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand

Edition Information:

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".)

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

905.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY