LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Animals & Insects

Techniques:

Etching

Description:

Soft ground etching, with pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 60 1/4 x 19 3/4" (153 x 50.1 cm); sheet: 61 13/16 x 20 3/4" (157 x 52.7 cm)

Signature:

"Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.

Inscription:

"1st proof" lower left comp., pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH

Edition:

2 known variant impressions of the only state, outside the unique variants

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition.

Aside from the 2 variant impressions of the only state seen here, there are 5 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed in combination with other plates in multi-panel works.

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"Inside of You"
Untitled, no. 3 of 11, from the series, "Extreme Tension"
Untitled, no. 8 of 11, from the series, "Extreme Tension"
"The Fear Is Inside You!!!"
Untitled, no. 2 of 3, from the series, "I Want To Talk About Magic"

Background:

Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

983.2011

This Work in Other Collections:

Tate Modern, London

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY