LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Abstraction, Animals & Insects, Body Parts, Faces & Portraits, Figures, Objects

Techniques:

Drypoint, Etching, Other

Description:

Portfolio with 12 compositions: 10 drypoints, 1 etching, and 1 multiple of paper and garter

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

portfolio: 26 × 18 7/8 × 1 5/16" (66 × 48 × 3.3 cm). Plate and sheet sizes vary throughout. See individual.

Signature:

"LB." or "LB" right lower margin each sheet, pencil.

Publisher:

Peter Blum Edition, New York

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

44; plus 10 A.P., 6 P.P., 2 SOLO Press Impressions, 2 for Peter Blum, 1 B.A.T

Impression:

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

Edition Information:

The entire edition size was not listed on the publisher's colophon or in the cataloguing of this portfolio in Wye and Smith, "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois," 1994, p. 166. The full edition seen here was confirmed by Harlan & Weaver, New York.

The 10 A.P. impressions are numbered in Roman numerals. The 6 P.P. impressions are numbered in Arabic numerals, as is the single B.A.T. impression. The 2 SOLO Press Impressions are inscribed "SPI 1" and "SPI 2." The inscriptions and numbering on the 2 impressions for Peter Blum are unknown.

Housing:

Publisher's solander box: pink fabric, lined with ivory smooth, wove paper, made by Jörg Oberli, Basel.

Background:

In 1988 Peter Blum, as a representative of "Parkett" magazine, discussed doing a multiple with Bourgeois (see "The Age of Condom Come," "Appointment at 11:00 a.m.," and "Reparation" in Related Works in the Catalogue below). He also explored with her the idea of doing a print project with Peter Blum Edition.

When they began to do prints together in 1989, Blum worked with Judith Solodkin, of SOLO Impression, as supervisor of printing, since Solodkin already had a friendly relationship with Bourgeois. Since SOLO Impression did not focus on intaglio printing, Solodkin made arrangements with Harlan & Weaver. Occasionally, Bourgeois went to the SOLO Impression workshop to inspect proofs brought over from Harlan & Weaver. Initially, she had no particular project in mind and began working in drypoint directly on copper plates using a variety of images. For examples of other prints made at this time, see "To Hide," "Ambition," "Tops," "Shooting Stars," "Meteorology," and "Untitled," all in Related Works in the Catalogue below.

The title was selected after the theme of anatomy became evident in a number of images the artist created. The published portfolio has no table for plates; nor does it identify the plates by number or title. During preparations for the 1994 catalogue raisonné, however, Bourgeois arranged the plates in the order she preferred, with imagery proceeding generally from head to foot. She also assigned titles at that time.

Artist’s Remarks:

On the subject of anatomy Bourgeois remarked: "You worry about what you have and what you don't have."

About the individual prints in the portfolio she observed: "These are feather thoughts. They come slowly to you... it is something passive, not active. They occur to you... you have to respond. They are like notes... they are indispensable. If you don't take notes, everything is forgotten. Little by little, the notes build up and become final statements... that happens finally in sculpture." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 166)

Installation Remarks:

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

Former Cat. No.:

W & S 97-108

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

172.1990.1-12

This Work in Other Collections:

Centro Cultural / Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City
Des Moines Art Center, Iowa
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY