LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Descriptive Title:

English translation: "Ode to My Mother"

Themes:

Body Parts, Spiders, Spirals

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 8 15/16 x 9" (22.7 x 22.8cm); sheet: 14 1/8 x 10 13/16" (35.8 x 27.5 cm)

Signature:

"Louise Bourgeois 1995" lower right margin, black ink.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

The artist

Edition:

1 known impression of state I

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state II.

State Changes and Additions:

Additions in pencil: right eye reinforced and eyelid further articulated, anticipating state II.

Background:

This project was conceived for Les Éditions du Solstice, a Parisian illustrated book society, under the direction of Jean-Claude Meyer. Bourgeois also contributed a frontispiece, “Spiraling Eyes,” to another of their publications: "Les Éditions du Solstice: Annuaire de la Décennie, 1989-1999," a volume documenting the activities of the society. Les Éditions du Solstice was founded under French law in 1901 to promote book collecting, and it publishes a limited edition, illustrated literary work every year or so. The maximum edition is 120 and copies are distributed to members. Other examples of their literary works include "La Nouvelle chute de l’Amérique" by Allen Ginsberg, with illustrations by Roy Lichtenstein, and "Sans Titre" by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, with illustrations by Markus Lüpertz.

Author Information:

Jean-Claude Meyer, of Les Éditions du Solstice, suggested that the project be a collaboration between Bourgeois and a writer. Bourgeois preferred to provide her own text written specifically for this project.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

629.1996

This Work in Other Collections:

Cleveland Museum of Art, OH
Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Maier Museum of Art, Randolph College, VA
Tate Modern, London

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY