LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Descriptive Title:

English translation: "Ode to My Mother"

Themes:

Motherhood & Family, Spiders

Techniques:

Drypoint, Other

Description:

Portfolio with 9 compositions: 9 drypoints, 1 with monoprinting and embossing, plus 1 with roulette, and 8 with selective wiping

Support:

Smooth, wove Dieu Donné paper

Dimensions:

sheet (each): 11 13/16 x 11 13/16" (30 x 30 cm)

Signature:

"Louise Bourgeois" and "95" or "1995" lower right margin each plate, pencil.

Publisher:

Les Éditions du Solstice, Paris

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

45; plus an illustrated book version with an edition of 90 with 35 H.C.

Impression:

"41/45" lower left margin each plate, pencil, unknown hand.

Housing:

Wrapper: cream, smooth, wove Hahnemühle paper. Printed text: "SUITE SUR PAPIER DIEU DONNE" upper center sheet cover.

Background:

This portfolio accompanies the illustrated book project 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.

Curatorial Remarks:

In addition to Spiders, this portfolio also includes the themes Animals & Insects, Body Parts, and Spirals.

The portfolio edition does not have a title page or colophon, as is found in the illustrated book edition.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

886.1996.1-9

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