Louise Bourgeois. Youth (1941-1944)

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IMAGE PERMISSIONS

Cat. No. 418/VII

Youth

State/Variant:: State VII of X
Date:: 1941-1944

Alternate Title:: Jeunesse (Youth); Le Liseur (The Reader); Liseur + auditeur (Reader + listener)
Themes:: Architecture, Figures, Objects
Techniques:: Drypoint, Etching
Description:: Soft ground etching and drypoint, with pencil additions
Support:: Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:: plate: 5 x 7 1/2" (12.7 x 19 cm); sheet: 7 7/8 x 11 1/2" (20 x 29.2 cm)
Signature:: Not signed
Inscription:: The alternate titles are derived from the artist's inscriptions on known impressions of this composition. The alternate title, "Le Liseur," derives from an inscription on an impression of state VI that is not in MoMA's Collection and is not included in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
Publisher:: unpublished
Printer:: The artist
Edition:: 1 known impression of state VII
Impression:: Not numbered
Edition Information:: Not issued as a published edition at any state.

Although there are 18 known impressions of the various states of "Youth," 3 have the following impression numbers: 5/7, 5/7, and 1/10.
State Changes and Additions:: Changes from state VI, in drypoint: crosshatching on left figure added; back of head on left figure reinforced; shading on torso and thigh of center figure added; book pages further delineated; horizontal shading lines in upper center composition added; vertical hatching above and below table added.
Changes from state VI, by burnishing: face of center figure partially removed.
Additions in pencil: shading on leg of center figure added, shading on vase added, table leg reinforced, all anticipating state VIII.
Artist’s Remarks:: Though Bourgeois most often depicted daily activities during the 1940s, she occasionally introduced people from her earlier life. Here, Bourgeois said, are her father and her brother. "These are people I like... This is a family that is locked together, but totally isolated. They try to communicate, but they get nowhere." About the female figure she said: "She is desperate here because she listens, but perceives that she's not hearing. There is a difference between listening and hearing. It is the same today: not to hear and not to be heard. I am so preoccupied that I cannot hear, in spite of an enormous effort." About the female figure in the print, she added: "Maybe she is withdrawn because she doesn't have a child; she must be preoccupied with that." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 56.)
Curatorial Remarks:: Additional known drawings relate to this composition but were not available for reproduction. They can be viewed on microfilm at the Archives of American Art, reel 90, frames 5 and 11.
Former Cat. No.:: W & S 18
MoMA Credit Line:: Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:: 237.1992.8