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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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Compositions (1,574)
Sheets (5,410)



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NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 821, unique variant 1

Losing It (#1)

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2007
Themes:
Abstraction, Fabric Works, Nature
Techniques:
Etching
Description:
Soft ground etching, with watercolor and gouache additions
Support:
Fabric
Dimensions:
plate: 60 1/2 × 14" (153.7 × 35.5 cm); sheet: 74 × 36" (188 × 91.4 cm)
Signature:
"LB" right lower margin, stitched in red thread.
Publisher:
Osiris, New York
Printer:
Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:
Unique
Impression:
Not numbered
Edition Information:
This is one of 5 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with another plate in a multi-panel work. 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:
"Losing It (#1)"
"Losing It (#2)"
"Untitled"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"Inside of You"
Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the series, "Start Something!!"

About the "Losing It" edition:
Selective wiping and sheet size vary from impression to impression. There are 2 known variant impressions of the only state, outside the edition. Both are seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. There are 2 known cancellation proofs, 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:
The colors 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 an impression in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions for the series were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.

Losing It
2006-2007

States

Louise Bourgeois. Losing It. 2006
Losing It
Only state, variant
2006
Louise Bourgeois. Losing It. 2006
Losing It
Only state, variant
2006
Published Louise Bourgeois. Losing It. 2007
Losing It
Only state
2007

Unique Variants

Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Losing It (#1). 2007
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Losing It (#1)
Only state, unique variant
2007
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Losing It (#2). 2007
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Losing It (#2)
Only state, unique variant
2007
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Untitled. 2007
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Untitled
Only state, unique variant
2007