Louise Bourgeois. Paris Toujours (2006)

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NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 1004.1

Paris Toujours

State/Variant:: Version 1 of 3, only state
Date:: 2006

Descriptive Title:: English translation: "Always Paris"
Themes:: Words
Techniques:: Etching
Description:: Soft ground etching, with pencil additions
Support:: Paper
Dimensions:: sheet: 11 1/4 × 32" (28.6 × 81.3 cm)
Signature:: "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
Inscription:: "First proof" lower left comp., pencil, artist's hand.
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:: 1 known impression of version 1, only state, outside the edition
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: Proof before the editioning of version 1, only state.

About the edition of version 1:
The pencil hand additions vary slightly across the edition; they consist of a dot on the "i" and an extension of the top of the letter "s" in the word "Paris."

Although each impression is numbered out of 27, there are only a total of 26 impressions in the edition, as impression 13/27 was never made.

About version 2:
There is 1 known unique variant that incorporates 3 impressions of version 2, only state.

The source drawing for version 2 is the verso of Untitled (no. 16) in "10 AM is When You Come to Me" (set 6), from the series of installation sets (1-10), which can be seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.

About version 3:
See the Addendum for an additional version of this composition that was discovered after 2018. In it, the text is slightly reworked.
Background:: This composition originates from the drawing series "Paris Toujour Paris" seen in Related Works in Other Mediums below. There are twelve sets of "Paris Toujour Paris." Each set contains ten handwritten phrases and one drawing, all on music paper with staves drawn in pencil. The phrases vary slightly, but are mostly consistent from set to set. Bourgeois considered turning each phrase into a print edition. She proofed nine compositions in total, but only two were editioned: "C'est Si Bon" and "Paris Toujours." All are seen in Related Works in the Catalogue below.
Curatorial Remarks:: The plate dimensions and paper type could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.