LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

Flottant (Floating)

Descriptive Title:

English translation: "Tornado"

Themes:

Abstraction, Architecture, Nature

Techniques:

Engraving

Description:

Engraving, with pencil and white gouache additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 6 7/8 x 4 15/16" (17.5 x 12.6 cm); sheet: 8 9/16 x 6 1/2" (21 x 16.5 cm)

Signature:

"L Bourgeois" lower left margin, pencil.

Inscription:

"AP" lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

The artist at Atelier 17, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state II

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition at any state.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from state I, in engraving: further delineation of curving form at left; vertical, rectilinear form second from left and large curving form filled in; ovoid form at center further delineated.

Artist’s Remarks:

"How do you survive... how do you keep your balance in a hurricane?" This image is "an exorcism of the fear of losing balance, of being blown away and demolished." It reminded Bourgeois of a quote about an oak and a reed ("le chêne et le roseau"): something about "a man being like a 'roseau' that thinks—anything can blow it; it leans, but it won't break."

Upon noticing that the bottom segment of the lairlike form near the center has been burnished away in a later state, she said: "It is taken away so it will swing... it is a way to get through turmoil and still stay in one piece. Even in a hurricane, if you have the right attitude you will recover." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 108.)

Curatorial Remarks:

The "AP" inscription, in the artist's hand, does not indicate a conventional A.P. impression, as "Tempête du Vent" was not issued as a published edition at any state.

In the second half of the 1940s, Bourgeois spent time at Atelier 17, the print workshop of Stanley William Hayter. The workshop had transferred operations from Paris to New York during the war years. It is not known precisely which prints she made at the workshop since she also worked at home on a small press. The designation of “the artist at Atelier 17” as printer means that the impression was likely made at the workshop. The designation is based on dates, inscriptions, techniques favored at Atelier 17, and/or stylistic similarities to images in the illustrated book “He Disappeared into Complete Silence,” which the artist repeatedly cited as having been made at Atelier 17. It is also possible that Bourgeois worked on certain plates both at home and at the workshop, or pulled impressions

Former Cat. No.:

W & S 45

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

162.1990.2

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY