LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Alternate Title:

The Puritan

Themes:

Architecture

Techniques:

Etching

Description:

Etching

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate (overall): 11 13/16 x 6 15/16" (30 x 17.7 cm); sheet: 23 1/4 x 15 11/16" (59 x 39.8 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH

Edition:

4 known variant impressions of state I

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state II.

Background:

This composition was initially developed in 1989 in conjunction with Benjamin Shiff, director of Osiris, as a preliminary trial for the book project "the puritan" (see below in Related Works in the Catalogue) although it did not ultimately appear in that book. Bourgeois and Shiff returned to the composition in 2003, creating impressions with hand additions, and also impressions for inclusion in the book, “One’s Sleep".

Artist’s Remarks:

"This is not a column, it is a self-portrait... see the hair?" Pointing to the little house, Bourgeois said, "This is where I came from, but I'm smart... look what I became! It is completely free... it can stand alone." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. “The Prints of Louise Bourgeois.” New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 155.)

Former Cat. No.:

W & S 82

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

475.1993

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY