Cat. No. 506.2/VI
Male from Male and Female
- State/Variant:
- Version 2 of 3, state VI of VIII
- Date:
- 2004
- Themes:
- Animals & Insects
- Techniques:
- Drypoint
- Description:
- Drypoint
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 13 7/8 x 9 15/16" (35.3 x 25.2 cm); sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 1/2" (41.9 x 31.7 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB" lower right margin, pencil.
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Harlan & Weaver, New York
- Edition:
- 2 known impressions of version 2, state VI
- 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 second known impression of version 2, state VI, is seen below in the Evolving Composition Diagram as the right side (b) of Diptych 3. - State Changes and Additions:
- (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.)
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 V, by burnishing: lower horizontal line refined.
Changes from version 2, state V, in drypoint: contours reinforced overall. - 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:
- 1512.2012
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY