LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Words

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with puncture hole additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 17 3/4 x 27 3/8" (45.1 x 69.6 cm); sheet: 20 7/8 × 29 15/16" (53 × 76 cm)

Signature:

"Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.

Inscription:

"hors tirage" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.

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unpublished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, by burnishing and grinding: hammered indentations made more shallow; surface marks and scratches lightened overall.
Changes from state I, in drypoint: letters widened by second row of hammered indentations.
Additions by puncture: holes through sheet added in many indentations, throughout several letters.

Background:

State III of this composition was published as a benefit for Documenta IX, 1992.

Bourgeois created this plate by hammering a nail through thin roofing copper.

The artist employed a similar technique in the print compositions “Tornado,” 1991-1992, and “We Love You,” 1992, seen in Related Works in the Catalogue below.

Artist’s Remarks:

"I want much more than thank you... I want forgiveness... I ask for mercy. Who is at fault? Who is the culprit? Is it you, or is it me? I would rather make it my trouble... then I could take care of it... I could become active instead of passive." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. “The Prints of Louise Bourgeois.” New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 209.)

Former Cat. No.:

W & S 123

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

634.1993

This Work in Other Collections:

National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY