Louise Bourgeois. The Unfolding (2008)

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NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 690, unique variant 2

The Unfolding

State/Variant:: Only state, unique variant
Date:: 2008

Themes:: Abstraction, Nature
Techniques:: Etching
Description:: panel (a): Soft ground etching, with watercolor and gouache additions
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with watercolor, gouache, ink, pencil, and colored pencil additions
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with watercolor, gouache, ink, pencil, and colored pencil additions
Support:: Paper (3 sheets)
Dimensions:: plate (in 2 vertical parts) (overall) (each): 58 7/8 × 35 9/16" (149.5 × 90.3 cm); sheet (a): 59 1/2 × 39 1/2" (151.1 × 100.3 cm); sheet (b): 61 7/8 × 39 1/4" (157.2 × 99.7 cm); sheet (c): 59 × 38 3/4" (149.9 × 98.4 cm)
Signature:: panel (a): "Louise / Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
panel (b): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
panel (c): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
Publisher:: Osiris, New York
Printer:: Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:: Unique
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: This is one of 11 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. These all include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with other plates, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series, "What Hurts"
“The Unfolding”
“The Unfolding (#2)”
“The Unfolding (#3)”
“The Unfolding (#4)”
Untitled, no. 5 of 6, from the series, "I Give Everything Away”

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
“À Baudelaire (#1)”
"Love Is As Big As the Sky"
Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, "Have a Little Courage"
“À Baudelaire (#9): The Impossible”
“The Geometry of Desire (#1)”

About the "The Unfolding" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping is consistent from impression to impression. Three impressions (2/9, 3/9, and 4/9) have proofing of the "À Baudelaire" plate on the verso.
Background:: Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.
Curatorial Remarks:: The color of the hand additions and paper type could not be fully documented because this impression is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impression in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.