Cat. No. 1013, variant 2
Ambition Shadowless
- State/Variant:
- Only state, variant
- Date:
- 1989
- Alternate Title:
-
The Upward Journey
- Themes:
- Architecture
- Techniques:
- Etching
- Description:
- Etching, with chine collé
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper, with chine collé
- Dimensions:
- plate: 8 15/16 x 4" (22.7 x 10.1cm); sheet: 23 1/4 × 15 1/4" (59 × 38.8 cm)
- Signature:
- Not signed
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
- Edition:
- 8 known impressions of the only state, outside the editions
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Three of the 8 known impressions of the only state, outside the editions, include chine collé.
In the edition of 11 published impressions with hand additions, each is designated by the artist as a “study”. (Usually in this catalogue, the term “study” describes photocopies and tracings that were used in the process of developing a composition.)
A separate edition of this composition was published as part of an illustrated book "One's Sleep". The illustrated book includes 18 plates with hand additions. (See Evolving Composition Diagram.) - 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 additional impressions to issue in separate editions and include in the book “One’s Sleep".
- Artist’s Remarks:
- "The two towers have become very strong and dominate the landscape... they are very powerful... they mean business. Together, the two confront the world... they are omnipotent. There is no intimacy here... they are abstracted... but they don't need intimacy.
The excuse for building this ambition is that you see all kinds of noble virtues in it... the buildings are so clean... so beautiful... so powerful. But if you extend the limits of your ambition, the limits are so far away that you will break in the middle." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. “The Prints of Louise Bourgeois.” New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 158.) - Former Cat. No.:
- W & S 85
- MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 482.1993
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
The Upward Journey
1989-2003
States
Only state, variant
1989
1989
Only state, variant
1989
1989
Published
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
1989-2003
1989-2003
Diptych Version
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
2003
2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
Only state
2003
2003
Illustrated Book
2003
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
-
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
-
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION
