LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

Cramped; Woman with Packages

Themes:

Figures, Motherhood & Family

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint

Support:

Paper

Dimensions:

plate: 10 3/4 × 7 3/8" (27.3 × 18.7 cm); sheet: 22 × 16 5/8" (55.9 × 42.2 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower right margin, pencil.

Inscription:

"5/14/93 rogue fonce" left lower margin, pencil, unknown hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state I

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition at any state.

Artist’s Remarks:

Discussing pregnancy, Bourgeois said: "Even though this is a very happy and beautiful feeling, we hope that it is not too much for her... we hope that she is not going to be crushed under the weight of the responsibility. We hope that she is up to it... that she doesn't fall. The axis over her head means that her balance is precarious. She better be careful.
The fear of losing balance forces you to be conscious of physical structure. You become very good at that if you become a sculptor... you have to." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 225.)

Curatorial Remarks:

An amendment has been made here to the cataloguing found in Wye and Smith, "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois," 1994, p. 225. At that time, cataloguers were aware of an earlier state, but could not locate an impression. Now, with the discovery of state I, each successive state is later (state I is now state II, state II is now state III, etc.).

The paper type 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 impressions in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY