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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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Cat. No. 728

À Baudelaire (#1)

State/Variant:
Unique variant
Date:
2008
Themes:
Nature
Techniques:
Etching
Description:
Soft ground etching, with ink, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and pencil
Support:
Paper (4 sheets)
Dimensions:
sheet (a): 58 1/2 × 38 5/8" (148.6 × 98.1 cm); sheet (b): 59 3/4 × 39 3/4" (151.8 × 101 cm); sheet (c): 59 1/2 × 39 1/4" (151.1 × 99.7 cm); sheet (d): 58 3/4 × 38 3/4" (149.2 × 98.4 cm)
Signature:
(a): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp.
(b): "LB" lower right comp.
(c): "LB" lower right comp.
(d): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp.
Inscription:
panel (a) verso: "À Baudelaire 1 [circled]" upper center sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "center left" lower center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (b) verso: "à Baudelaire 1 [circled]" upper center sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "center right" lower center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (c) verso: "À Baudelaire 1 [circled] / center left" upper center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (d) verso: "left" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Publisher:
Osiris, New York
Printer:
Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:
Unique
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
A number of works share the title "À Baudelaire." These works include 9 unique variants with extenstive hand additions, and an edition. The titles of the unique variants are listed below:

“À Baudelaire (#1)”
“À Baudelaire (#2)”
“À Baudelaire (#3)”
“À Baudelaire (#4)”
“À Baudelaire (#5)”
“À Baudelaire (#6)”
“À Baudelaire (#7)”
“À Baudelaire (#8): Silence Is a Form of Intimacy”
“À Baudelaire (#9): The Impossible”
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
This 4-panel composition is made up of plates that are used in other compositions, but which are partially inked here. These plates, fully inked, were issued in editions as 2 separate compositions, which are noted below and can be seen in Related Works in the Catalogue.

panels (a) and (c): plate from "The Unfolding"

panels (b) and (d): plate from "À Baudelaire"

A proof of the composition "Love and Kisses" is printed on the verso of panel (a).
Background:
Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.
Curatorial Remarks:
Plate dimensions are not given due to partial inking. For full plate dimensions, see the respective editioned impressions. The color of hand additions, medium of the signature, type of paper, and sheet dimensions could not be documented because this impression is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Other Remarks:
A number of works with extensive hand additions share the title "À Baudelaire." These works include 9 unique variants and an edition. The individual titles of the unique variants are as follows:
“À Baudelaire (#1)”
“À Baudelaire (#2)”
“À Baudelaire (#3)”
“À Baudelaire (#4)”
“À Baudelaire (#5)”
“À Baudelaire (#6)”
“À Baudelaire (#7)”
“À Baudelaire (#8): Silence Is a Form of Intimacy”
“À Baudelaire (#9): The Impossible”

À Baudelaire (#1)
2008

Unique Variants

Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. À Baudelaire (#1). 2008
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION À Baudelaire (#1)
Unique variant
2008