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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 744, unique variant 7

I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2010
Themes:
Abstraction, Fabric Works, Figures, Words
Techniques:
Etching
Description:
panel (a): Fabric collage
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with watercolor, gouache, ink, and pencil additions
panel (c): Text stitched in red thread
Support:
panel (a): fabric
panel (b): paper
panel (c): fabric
Dimensions:
plate (in 2 vertical parts) (overall): 59 11/16 × 35 9/16" (151.6 × 90.4 cm); sheet and 2 fabric panels (overall): 61 5/8 × 89" (156.5 × 226.1 cm)
Signature:
panel (b): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
panel (c): "LB" lower right sheet, red thread.
Inscription:
panel (b) verso: "my inner life / center / 6"
Publisher:
Osiris, New York
Printer:
Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:
Unique
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
This is one of 7 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate. They all include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"My Inner Life (#1)"
"My Inner Life (#2)"
"My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet"
"My Inner Life (#5)"
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, "The Voice Says Yes" (This composition was originally titled "My Inner Life [#4]")
"I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)"
Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, "I Give Everything Away"

About the "My Inner Life" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping is consistent from impression to impression. Two impressions (8/9 and 9/9) have proofing of the "My Inner Life" plate on the verso. There is one known proof impression on the verso of "Elle," seen below in Related Works in the Catalogue.
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 hand additions, inscription on the verso, and type of paper could not be fully documented because this impression is not in MoMA’s Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impression on paper in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

My Inner Life
2008-2010

States

Published Louise Bourgeois. My Inner Life. 2008
My Inner Life
Only state
2008

Unique Variants

Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. My Inner Life (#1). 2008
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION My Inner Life (#1)
Only state, unique variant
2008
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. My Inner Life (#2). 2008
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION My Inner Life (#2)
Only state, unique variant
2008
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet. 2008
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet
Only state, unique variant
2008
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. My Inner Life (#5). 2008
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION My Inner Life (#5)
Only state, unique variant
2008
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes. 2009
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes
Only state, unique variant
2009
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away. 2010
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away
Only state, unique variant
2010
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6). 2010
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)
Only state, unique variant
2010

Series
2009

NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. The Voice Says Yes. 2009
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION The Voice Says Yes
2009
More About This Work

Series
2010

NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. I Give Everything Away. 2010
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION I Give Everything Away
2010
More About This Work

I go to pieces
I lose
my mind
my footing
the key to the Fields
my way
my memory
my faith
my consciousness
my sight
I CANNOT CONTROL
EVERYTHING for EVER