Cat. No. 407/IV
Dagger Child
- State/Variant:
- State IV of IV
- Date:
- 2001
- Alternate Title:
-
The Dagger Child et Sa Mère
- Themes:
- Motherhood & Family, Objects
- Techniques:
- Drypoint, Engraving
- Description:
- Drypoint and engraving, with red ink additions
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 11 3/4 x 9 7/8" (29.9 x 25.1 cm); sheet: 15 7/8 x 14" (40.3 x 35.5 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB" lower right margin, red ink. Verso: "Louise Bourgeois / June 2001" lower right sheet, red ink and pencil.
- Inscription:
- Verso: "AP= artist Proof" lower center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Harlan & Weaver, New York
- Edition:
- 1 known impression of state IV
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- The "AP" inscription, in the artist's hand, on the verso does not indicate a conventional A.P. impression, as "Dagger Child" was not issued as a published edition at any state.
- State Changes and Additions:
- Changes from state III, by burnishing: straight edge of large knife blade removed.
Changes from state III, in engraving: straight edge of large knife blade redrawn; curvilinear edge of blade and handle of large knife refined. - Background:
- The two source drawings for "Dagger Child" are tracings of a knife that Bourgeois had in her home, according to her assistant Jerry Gorovoy. She also used tracings of common household objects in 2006 to develop the print series, “Lullaby.”
- Artist’s Remarks:
- "The Dagger Child is the child who is in the position to hurt you. He has the power to hurt the mother. The knife is like a little toy." (Quote cited in Meyer-Thoss, Christiane. "Louise Bourgeois: Designing for Free Fall." Zurich: Ammann Verlag, 1992, p. 180)
Inscribed on the verso of the source drawing: "The dagger child et sa mere." - MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 1464.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY