NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Cat. No. 653/III, variant 1
Bébé Joufflu
- State/Variant:
- State III of III, variant
- Date:
- 2002
- 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
- Support:
- Paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 9 15/16 x 7 7/8" (25.2 x 20 cm); sheet: 15 1/2 x 11 1/8" (39.4 x 28.3 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB" right lower margin, pencil.
- 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- unpublished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. - Public Collection:
- Tate Modern, London
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Bébé Joufflu
2002-2003
Source
2002
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Bébé Joufflu
Ink, pencil, and correction fluid on paper
2002
Ink, pencil, and correction fluid on paper
2002
States
State I of III
2002
2002
State II of III
2002
2002
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
State III of III, variant
2002
2002
State III of III, variant
2003
2003
