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panel (a): Soft ground etching, with ink and gouache additions panel (b): Soft ground etching, with ink and gouache additions panel (c): Soft ground etching, with ink and gouache additions
Support:
Paper (3 sheets)
Dimensions:
plate (a, b, and c) (in 2 vertical parts) (overall): 55 5/16 × 16 3/4" (140.5 × 42.5 cm); sheet (overall): 59 3/8 × 58 1/2" (150.8 × 148.6 cm)
Signature:
panel (c): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
This is one of 9 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. When the plate is used 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: "Pendule" (triptych) "Pendule" (diptych) "Pendule" (single)
See Related Works in the Catalogue: Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, "Inner Truths or Outer Truths" Untitled, no. 5 of 5, from the series, "The Vocabulary of Seduction" "You Touched Me!" Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, "What Why When Where Who and How!!" Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, "What Why When Where Who and How!!" Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, "Differentiate"
About the "Pendule" edition: Within the edition, selective wiping, sheet size, and support type vary from impression to impression. There is 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition. There are 2 known cancellation proofs on paper, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.
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:
Although there is no indication of an inscription on the verso, this impression is considered "unique variant #1" by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
The paper type, color of the hand additions, and verso inscriptions 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 in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
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