Louise Bourgeois. To Unravel a Torment You Must Begin Somewhere, no. 8 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem? (1999)

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Louise Bourgeois. To Unravel a Torment You Must Begin Somewhere, no. 8 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem? 1999

IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 666/II

To Unravel a Torment You Must Begin Somewhere, no. 8 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?

State/Variant:: Component A: state II of II; component B: only state
Date:: 1999
Series:: What Is the Shape of This Problem? (View All)

Themes:: Abstraction, Words
Techniques:: Lithography, Relief
Description:: Letterpress and lithograph
Support:: Smooth, wove Arches paper
Dimensions:: sheet (component A): 12 × 17" (30.5 × 43.2 cm); sheet (component B): 12 × 17" (30.5 × 43.2 cm)
Signature:: "LB" right lower sheet (each), pencil.
Publisher:: Galerie Lelong, Paris,
Galerie Lelong, New York
Printer:: SOLO Impression, New York
Edition:: 25; plus 14 A.P. (3 are isolated pairs of text-image diptychs), 4 P.P., 3 T.P., 2 H.C., 1 B.A.T.
Impression:: "AP 2" left lower sheet (each), pencil, unknown hand.
Edition Information:: In an unusual numbering system for the A.P.s, numbers 1-11 were given to complete sets, but numbers 12, 13, and 14 were given to isolated pairs of text-image diptychs, according to printer Judith Solodkin of SOLO Impression. Solodkin does not recall which specific diptychs were numbered 12, 13, and 14.

There is an additional known impression of component A, state II, outside the edition, in MoMA's Collection (Accession Number: 1417.2008). It is not illustrated due to its similarity to the impression seen here.
State Changes and Additions:: Matrices, component A:
Plate 1: overall composition; letterpress, printed in light red.
Plate 2: overall composition; lithography, printed in dark red.

State Changes:
Plate 1, printed over plate 2.
Changes from state I, in lithography: composition reinforced overall, and several new circles added to edges of composition.
Background:: The text in this series was taken from Bourgeois's diary entries, spanning some forty years. The images are based on drawings created in the 1990s. Printer Judith Solodkin of SOLO Impression made photo-enlargements of the drawings and transferred them to letterpress plates.
Installation Remarks:: Each diptych in this series constitutes a single composition and must be exhibited in a vertical configuration as illustrated, or alternatively, with the text on top of the image. The diptychs in the series may be exhibited together or separately, and there is no required sequence.
Curatorial Remarks:: This series was reproduced on a set of note cards as a merchandise item. A tote bag merchandise item was made from no. 9.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 135.2000.9a-b
This Work in Other Collections:: Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Switzerland
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Tate Modern, London