LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Abstraction, Spirals

Techniques:

Lithography, Woodcut

Description:

Lithograph and woodcut, with white chalk and black gouache additions

Support:

Wove BFK Rives paper

Dimensions:

composition: 21 1/2 × 96" (54.6 × 243.8 cm); sheet: 21 1/2 × 96" (54.6 × 243.8 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Inscription:

Verso: "LiTHO / 7 feet long [sketch of composition]" written sideways in center right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

SOLO Impression, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of state I

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of state II.

The printer’s documentation sheet lists five trial proofs, as follows:
1. Black Background, white and black shapes
2. Black Background with color notations on shapes
3. Black background with red and blue shapes sewn on
4-5. Blue background with red and blue shapes

Proofs number 1 and 3 possibly correspond with state I and II, variant, respectively, in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. Proofs 2, 4, and 5 were not located and could not be examined.

Curatorial Remarks:

Woodcut was used to add texture to the solid background areas. Wood grain is visible using the zoom feature. Hand additions were applied to further delineate shadows and highlights.

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

651.1996

This Work in Other Collections:

The British Museum, London
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY