LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

The Big Baby; Paulo, Baby of the Art World

Descriptive Title:

English translation: "Big Cheeked Baby"

Themes:

Figures

Techniques:

Drypoint, Engraving

Description:

Drypoint and engraving, with selective wiping

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 9 15/16 x 7 7/8" (25.2 x 20 cm); sheet: 13 7/8 x 11 1/4" (35.2 x 28.6 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

3 known variant impressions of state III

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition at any state.

The additional known impression of state III is in the collection of Tate Modern, London. It is signed "LB" in the lower right margin and inscribed "AP" in the lower left margin, both in red ink. The "AP" inscription, in the artist's hand, does not indicate a conventional A.P. impression, as "Bébé Joufflu" was not issued as a published edition at any state.

It is also inscribed "To Rosamond and John / Love, / Louise" in the lower middle margin in red ink. The inscription refers to the author and editor Rosamond Bernier (1916-2016) and her husband, art critic John Russell (1919-2008), who were close friends of Bourgeois's.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state II, in engraving: lines reinforced throughout; hair increased.

Curatorial Remarks:

Printer Felix Harlan of Harlan & Weaver remembers Bourgeois using the working title, "The Big Baby," for this composition. However, the Louise Bourgeois Studio has designated the title to be the same as that of the source drawing: "Bébé Joufflu." This drawing was exhibited in "Louise Bourgeois Drawings and Sculpture" at Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2002. The accompanying catalogue lists the title incorrectly as "Bébé Jousslu."

Previous MoMA cataloguers used the title, "Paulo, Baby of the Art World," based on the inscription on the verso of State I. That inscription refers to Paulo Herkenhoff, the Brazilian curator and critic with whom Bourgeois had a longstanding friendship and professional relationship. As a gift for Herkenhoff, Bourgeois made the 2002 composition "Ex Libris (for Paulo Herkenhoff)," seen below in Related Works in Other Mediums.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

1644.2008

This Work in Other Collections:

Tate Modern, London

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY