Louise Bourgeois. Art Is a Guaranty of Sanity, no. 9 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem? (1999)

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Louise Bourgeois. Art Is a Guaranty of Sanity, no. 9 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem? 1999

IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 667

Art Is a Guaranty of Sanity, no. 9 of 9, from the series, What Is the Shape of This Problem?

State/Variant:: Components A and B: only state
Date:: 1999
Series:: What Is the Shape of This Problem? (View All)

Themes:: Abstraction, Spirals, Words
Techniques:: Relief
Description:: Letterpress
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, only state, outside the edition, in MoMA's Collection (Accession Number: 1421.2008). It is not illustrated due to its similarity to the impression seen here.

There are 2 known variant impressions of component B, only state, outside the edition, seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
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:: A tote bag merchandise item was made from this composition. The whole series was reproduced on a set of note cards as a merchandise item.
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 135.2000.10a-b
This Work in Other Collections:: Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich, Switzerland
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Tate Modern, London