LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Architecture, Words

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove paper

Dimensions:

plate: 9 15/16 x 9 7/8" (25.3 x 25.1 cm); sheet: 11 x 13 9/16" (28 x 34.5 cm)

Signature:

Not signed

Inscription:

"La mai[?] / the house of the w family. + whence." lower center margin, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

The artist

Edition:

1 known impression of version 1

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Not issued as a published edition at any state.

Background:

In August of 1999, the Dalai Lama spoke at several well-attended events in New York City. Bourgeois's son, Jean-Louis, requested that his mother execute a benefit print to raise money for the Dalai Lama’s cause about a month prior to the speaking engagements. Although Bourgeois created this composition, the benefit project did not come to fruition and this print was never published.

Artist’s Remarks:

Inscriptions on drawings in the suite of drawings titled, "The Iodine Scene," 1999: "ODE TO THE FIVE W, WHO WHERE WHEN WHY WHAT" and "LB a child who loved to be mothered. who, when, where, why, what, ground, qui, quoi, pourquoi, ou."

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

884.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY