LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Fabric Works, Figures

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Series of 5 drypoints

Support:

Silk

Dimensions:

overall: 8 x 52 1/2" (20.3 x 133.4 cm)

Signature:

"LB" right lower sheet, black ink.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

1 known series on fabric, printed on a scarf

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Outside the published illustrated book edition on paper (2003) , and the published illustrated book edition on fabric (2006), there are several other unpublished but signed formats of “The Laws of Nature:” a series on fabric, printed in black, in 2 known examples, and a series on fabric, printed in red, in 1 known example, and this series on a scarf, printed in black, with the plates in a different order. (See Related Works in the Catalogue, below.) The states of the plates within the various series sometimes differ from the states of the plates within the published editions.

For consistency, the plate numbers for the untitled compositions remain the same throughout this project. The order on this scarf is as follows: plate 1, plate 4, plate 3, plate 2, plate 5.

There are also two sets of plates, printed in red, with no signatures. One set, from c. 2003, is on silk; the other, from c. 2006, is on paper. Since the prints in these sets have no signatures, the sets are not considered to be completed series.

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:

The dimensions of the plates in this series could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the published impressions on paper in MoMA's Collection. Plate dimensions of fabric works often vary slightly due to stretching. Sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

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.

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY