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. 1105, unique variant 3

La Mère

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2009
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "The Mother"
Themes:
Abstraction, Figures, Motherhood & Family
Techniques:
Etching
Description:
Etching, with red watercolor and pencil additions.
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
plate (plate dimensions reflect full plate size; this is a partial print): 34 13/16 × 31 11/16" (88.5 × 80.5 cm); sheet: 34 1/2 × 17 7/8" (87.6 × 45.4 cm)
Signature:
"LB" right lower comp., pencil.
Inscription:
“la / mère” written vertically, lower right comp., pencil, artist’s hand.
Publisher:
Osiris, New York
Printer:
Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:
Unique variant
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition. However, there is one known impression and three unique variants (one in the series, "Le Matin Rouge"). All can be seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.

In this composition, the plate is partially printed, with only the lower right portion visible.
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.

Ma Famille; The Jealousy of the Breast; No. 3 of 5, from the series, Le Matin Rouge
2009

States

Louise Bourgeois. Ma Famille. 2009
Ma Famille
Only state
2009

Unique Variants

Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. The Jealousy of the Breast. 2009
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION The Jealousy of the Breast
Only state, unique variant
2009
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled, no. 3 of 5, from the series, Le Matin Rouge. 2009
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Untitled, no. 3 of 5, from the series, Le Matin Rouge
Only state, unique variant
2009
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. La Mère. 2009
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION La Mère
Only state, unique variant
2009

Series
2009

NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Le Matin Rouge. 2009
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Le Matin Rouge
2009
More About This Work