LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

Accumulations

Themes:

Abstraction, Nature

Techniques:

Etching

Description:

Soft ground etching, with watercolor, gouache, and pencil additions

Support:

Paper

Dimensions:

plate: 55 3/4 × 12 3/8" (141.6 × 31.5 cm); page (each): 59 1/4 × 19 1/2" (150.5 × 49.5 cm)

Signature:

"LB" left lower sheet verso of cover, stitched in red thread.

Inscription:

"finding / a / river / of abundance / of connection!!!" center page, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

Osiris, New York

Printer:

Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH

Edition:

Unique

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

This is one of 7 unique variants of state II outside the edition, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. When the plate is printed alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with another plate, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"Accumulations"
"Accumulations"
Untitled, plates 2 and 3 of 9, from the illustrated book, "Differentiate"
Untitled, plate 2 of 5, from the illustrated book, "Duration and Intensité"
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, "Evening of My Life"
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, "This Need"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, "Inner Truths or Outer Truths"

About the "Accumulations" edition:
The edition is made up of impressions of state II and III.
State II: 1/7, 3/7, 7/7
State III: 2/7, 6/7
Nos. 4/7 and 5/7 could not be examined in person and their states are not known.

Selective wiping varies from impression to impression; see examples in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. The sheet sizes also vary. There is 1 known variant impression of state II and 1 known impression of state III, both outside the edition. There are 2 known cancellation proofs of state III, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state I, in soft ground etching: distress marks added throughout; top of form slightly altered.

Pagination:

Pages 6 and 7 of 16.

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 pagination of this illustrated book was determined by the Louise Bourgeois Studio and the publisher.

The paper type and color of the hand additions 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 impression of state I in MoMA's Collection. The dimensions of the book were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

The cover of this book was created after its contents, and the title on the cover differs from that on the title page. According to the Louise Bourgeois Studio, the title of this book is "Duration and Intensité," as written on the title page.

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY