MoMA
A-|A+

LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
Advanced Search

View Works Chronologically:

Compositions (1,574)
Sheets (5,410)



Showing 1 of 1
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 1258

Have a Little Courage

Date:
2009
Themes:
Abstraction, Nature
Techniques:
Etching
Description:
Series of 4 compositions: 9 soft ground etchings, with hand additions
Support:
See individual.
Dimensions:
Plate and sheet sizes vary. See individual.
Signature:
See individual.
Publisher:
Osiris, New York
Printer:
Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:
Unique
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
The compositions in this series use plates that were also issued as separate editions. The titles of the separte editions are listed below and can be seen in the Evolving Composition Diagrams of their respective compositions:

"Opening Up" *****confirm*****
"The Stretch"
"Passages"
"Knots"
"The Unfolding"
"Turning Inwards"
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.
Installation Remarks:
This series of 4 compositions constitutes a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
Curatorial Remarks:
The plate dimensions are from impressions in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

From the series

View All
  • NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
    Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the...
    Only state, unique variant
    2009
    Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
  • NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
    Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the...
    Unique variant
    2009
    Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
  • NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
    Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the...
    Unique variant
    2009
    Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
  • NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009
    Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the...
    Only state, unique variant
    2009
    Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage. 2009

Louise Bourgeois,

Have a Little Courage,

New York, Osiris, 2009

Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.

No. 1:
Dizzy
Spells
étourdi

No. 2:
Beheaded
jilted
unprotected

slipped
and
could not get up.

No. 3:
when fear
becomes conscious

No. 4:
Watch out
and
have a little
Courage