Cat. No. 1212.2/II
Hold My Bones
- State/Variant:
- Version 2 of 2, state II of V
- Date:
- 2001-2002
- Themes:
- Body Parts
- Techniques:
- Drypoint
- Description:
- Drypoint, with red ink and red pencil additions
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 3 9/16 x 4 1/2" (9 x 11.5 cm); sheet: 7 1/2 x 7 1/16" (19 x 18 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB" right lower margin, red ink. "LB" left upper margin (upside down), red ink.
- Inscription:
- Verso: "left foot" lower right sheet, red ink, artist's hand.
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Harlan & Weaver, New York
- Edition:
- 1 known impression of version 2, state II
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Not issued as a published edition at any state.
- State Changes and Additions:
- Changes from version 1, in drypoint: composition transferred to smaller plate.
Changes from version 2, state I: A printer's notation on the verso designates this impression as state II. Changes to the plate could not be determined, however, due to hand additions on both this state and state I.
Addition in red pencil: line added to upper comp. to close rectangle, anticipating state IV. - Artist’s Remarks:
- Inscribed on the source drawing: "Treaser Trove" (sic) upper right sheet, black ink, artist's hand; "I hold [obscured]" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "Hold my bones / together" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
About the source drawing, 1994: "This is my favorite drawing of all. It is a call for help. It means, 'Keep me together, do not abandon me, hold my bones together.' Speaking of the toi and moi! It should be called 'Friendship, The Value of Friendship.' I made this for Nigel Finch, the filmmaker. He just passed away." (Quote cited in Bourgeois, Louise and Lawrence Rinder. "Louise Bourgeois Drawings and Observations." Berkeley: University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive University of California, Berkeley; Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1995, p. 175.) - Curatorial Remarks:
- Nigel Finch (1949-1995) was a British filmmaker. In 1994, he directed a documentary about the artist titled "Louise Bourgeois: No Trespassing."
There are two signatures that indicate two possible orientations; the orientation seen here was chosen by cataloguers to match the other impressions seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. - MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 1493.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY