Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, plate 4 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature (c. 2003)

Select a search filter from the categories below.

Years		Themes		Techniques		Featured Printers & Publishers
1930s–1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s		Abstraction Animals & Insects Architecture Body Parts Fabric Works Faces & Portraits Figures Motherhood & Family Music Nature Objects Spiders Spirals Words		Aquatint Digital Drypoint Engraving Etching Lithography Photogravure Relief Screenprint Other Techniques		Atelier 17 Carolina Nitsch Editions Dyenamix Harlan & Weaver Lison Editions Louise Bourgeois Osiris Peter Blum Edition Procuniar Workshop SOLO Impression Wingate Studio

Showing 1 of 1

Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, plate 4 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature. c. 2003

IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 353/V, variant 2

Untitled, plate 4 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature

State/Variant:: State V of VII, variant
Date:: c. 2003

Themes:: Fabric Works
Techniques:: Drypoint
Description:: Drypoint, with selective wiping
Support:: Fabric (silk)
Dimensions:: plate: 4 11/16 x 5 13/16" (11.9 x 14.7 cm); sheet: 11 1/16 x 11 3/16" (28.1 x 28.4 cm)
Signature:: Not signed
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: Harlan & Weaver, New York
Edition:: 2 known variant impressions of state V on fabric
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: Proof before the illustrated book edition of state VI on paper, and the illustrated book edition of state VII on fabric.

This impression is part of a set of plates printed in red on silk, but none of the impressions in this set are initialed and therefore the set is not considered a completed series. There is another set of plates, from c. 2006, printed in red on paper, with no signatures. This set is also not considered to be a completed series.

There are several unpublished but signed formats of “The Laws of Nature:” a series on fabric, printed in black, in 2 known examples; a series on fabric, printed in red, in 1 known example; and a series printed on a scarf, with plates in a different order, printed in black. (See the Evolving Composition Diagram.) The states of the plates within the various series sometimes differ from the states of the plates within the published edition.
State Changes and Additions:: Changes from state IV in drypoint: female figure's thigh reconfigured; male figure's genitals further delineated, and his nipples burnished away.
Background:: The artist told printer Felix Harlan that the figures in this series are playing an adult version of a French children's game, known as "faire des galipettes," meaning to do somersaults. In fact, the expression "faire des galipettes" is also slang for having sex, a punning reference that Bourgeois must have enjoyed.
Curatorial Remarks:: In contrast to the designation "illustrated book," which contains text, this catalogue designates as a "series" those instances where there is no text accompanying a group of related plates. Since the prints in this group are not initialed, the group is not considered a completed series.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 80.2012