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This is one of 14 unique variants made from the same plate used in the edition "À Baudelaire." In some cases, these unique variants were printed in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. All include extensive hand additions and sometimes only a partial printing of the plate.
When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with other plates, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.
See Evolving Composition Diagram: “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” “The Geometry of Desire (#2)” Untitled, no. 4 of 6, from the series "I Give Everything Away”
See Related Works in the Catalogue: “À Baudelaire (#1)” “À Baudelaire (#9): The Impossible” “The Geometry of Pleasure (#1)” “The Geometry of Pleasure (#3)” “The Geometry of Pleasure (#4)”
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:
The color of the hand additions, medium of the signature, plate dimensions, and paper type could not be documented because this impression is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impression in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
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