Cat. No. 407/II, variant 1
Dagger Child
- State/Variant:
- State II of IV, variant
- Date:
- 2001
- Alternate Title:
-
The Dagger Child et Sa Mère
- Themes:
- Motherhood & Family, Objects
- Techniques:
- Drypoint
- Description:
- Drypoint, with red ink additions
- Support:
- Smooth, wove paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 11 15/16 x 9 15/16" (30.3 x 25.3 cm); sheet: 16 5/16 x 11 1/2" (41.4 x 29.2 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB" lower right margin, red ink.
- Publisher:
- unpublished
- Printer:
- Harlan & Weaver, New York
- Edition:
- 2 known variant impressions of state II
- Impression:
- Not numbered
- Edition Information:
- Not issued as a published edition at any state.
- State Changes and Additions:
- Changes from state I, in drypoint: small knife filled in; handle of large knife reinforced.
Additions in red ink: plate mark reinforced, possibly in anticipation of the thin black border added in state III. - Background:
- The two source drawings for "Dagger Child" are tracings of a knife that Bourgeois had in her home, according to her assistant Jerry Gorovoy. She also used tracings of common household objects in 2006 to develop the print series, “Lullaby.”
- Artist’s Remarks:
- "The Dagger Child is the child who is in the position to hurt you. He has the power to hurt the mother. The knife is like a little toy." (Quote cited in Meyer-Thoss, Christiane. "Louise Bourgeois: Designing for Free Fall." Zurich: Ammann Verlag, 1992, p. 180)
Inscribed on the verso of the source drawing: "The dagger child et sa mere." - MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 1055.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY