Cat. No. 506.2/III, variant 1
Male from Male and Female
- State/Variant:
- Version 2 of 3, state III of VIII, variant
- Date:
- c. 2003
- Themes:
- Animals & Insects
- Techniques:
- Drypoint
- Description:
- Drypoint, with selective wiping, and pencil and red ink additions
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 13 15/16 x 10" (35.2 x 25.2 cm); sheet: 18 1/2 x 14" (47 x 35.6 cm)
- Signature:
- Not signed
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Harlan & Weaver, New York
- Edition:
- 4 known variant impressions of version 2, state III
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Proof before the editioning of Diptych 6, seen below in the Evolving Composition Diagram and comprising: left side (a): version 1, state VII, and right side (b): version 2, state VIII. This composition was also issued as a published edition at version 3, state II, titled "Le Chat."
The fourth known variant impression of version 2, state III, is seen below in the Evolving Composition Diagram as the right side (b) of Diptych 4. - State Changes and Additions:
- Changes from version 1: version 1, state I composition inverted and transferred to a new, identically sized plate, in drypoint.
Changes from version 2, state II, by burnishing: remnants of previous configuration of leg, tail, and genitals fully removed.
(Version 2, state IV exists only as the right side (b) of Diptych 2.)
(Version 2, state V exists only as the right side (b) of Diptych 5.) - Background:
- In the 1950s, when Bourgeois was living with her husband and children in an apartment on 18th Street in New York City, the family had two cats: Champfleurette and Tyger.
- Curatorial Remarks:
- Although the development of the Male and Female diptych has been divided into first and second versions for clarity, Bourgeois worked on both plates concurrently.
- Other Remarks:
- According to printer Felix Harlan, the third, smaller version in the Evolving Composition Diagram was initially created as a test plate. Aquatint was being considered to add shading to the male cat. Ultimately, Bourgeois decided against aquatint for the shading, but she liked the compositional fragment on the test plate. She added the contour of the cat's body and editioned this version as "Le Chat" on handmade paper.
- MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 1518.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY