Cat. No. 431/II
Untitled, plate 2 of 14, from the portfolio, Autobiographical Series
- State/Variant:
- State II of III
- Date:
- 1993
- Descriptive Title:
-
Birth
- Themes:
- Figures, Motherhood & Family
- Techniques:
- Drypoint
- Description:
- Drypoint, with brown wash and black crayon additions
- Support:
- Smooth, wove Somerset paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 9 5/16 x 7 3/16" (23.6 x 18.3 cm); sheet: 22 7/16 x 14 5/8" (57 x 37.2 cm)
- Signature:
- Not signed
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Harlan & Weaver, New York
- Edition:
- 1 known impression of state II
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Proof before the editioning of state III.
- State Changes and Additions:
- Changes from state I, in drypoint: mother’s hair thickened; mother’s hands, feet, and breasts further delineated; baby’s eyelashes and ear further delineated.
Additions in brown wash: tonal shading added to mother’s hair, anticipating state III. - Background:
- Bourgeois was often inspired by the subjects of early drawings when creating works at much later dates. This 1994 portfolio is an example of a project based primarily on drawings from the 1940s and referring to her life in New York at that time. The exceptions are as follows: plate 1, based on a drawing from 1986 that references childbirth; plates 4 and 9, based on drawings from the 1940s but depicting memories of her childhood years in France; plate 11, most probably based on a drawing from the 1940s of a European hotel desk.
- Curatorial Remarks:
- Of the 14 plates in "Autobiographical Series," Bourgeois titled plates 6 and 12. The untitled plates have been assigned descriptive titles for cataloguing purposes.
- MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 603.1996
- This Work in Other Collections:
- Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Museu da Gravura Cidade de Curitiba, Brazil
Tate Modern, London
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY