LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Descriptive Title:

Sewing

Themes:

Fabric Works, Objects

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint

Support:

Smooth, wove Somerset paper

Dimensions:

plate: 8 9/16 x 5 3/16" (21.8 x 13.2 cm); sheet: 16 1/8 x 11 5/8" (41 x 29.5 cm)

Signature:

"LB" lower right margin, pencil.

Publisher:

Peter Blum Edition, New York

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

35; plus 10 H.C.

Impression:

"III/X" lower left margin, pencil, unknown hand.

Edition Information:

There are 2 known impressions of the only state, outside the edition, in MoMA's Collection (Accession Numbers: 611.1996 and 635.2008). They are not illustrated, due to their similiarity to the impression seen here.

Background:

Bourgeois was often inspired by the subjects of early drawings when creating works at much later dates. This 1994 portfolio is an example of a project based primarily on drawings from the 1940s and referring to her life in New York at that time. The exceptions are as follows: plate 1, based on a drawing from 1986 that references childbirth; plates 4 and 9, based on drawings from the 1940s but depicting memories of her childhood years in France; plate 11, most probably based on a drawing from the 1940s of a European hotel desk.

Installation Remarks:

The prints in this portfolio can be shown as a group or individually. There is no required sequence.

Curatorial Remarks:

The source drawing for this work was not available for reproduction. It can, however, be viewed on microfilm at the Archives of American Art, reel 90, frame 66.

Of the 14 plates in "Autobiographical Series," Bourgeois titled plates 6 and 12. The untitled plates have been assigned descriptive titles for cataloguing purposes.

Other Remarks:

According to Bourgeois's assistant Jerry Gorovoy, the artist often altered and made her own clothes, even into old age.

Bibliography:

Malbert, Roger, and Juliet Mitchell. "Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical Prints." London: Hayward, 2016. (Catalogue accompanying the touring exhibition "Louise Bourgeois Prints: Autobiographical Series and 11 Drypoints".)

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

74.1997.8

This Work in Other Collections:

Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Québec
Museu da Gravura Cidade de Curitiba, Brazil
Tate Modern, London

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY