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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Louise Bourgeois: Complete Books & Prints
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Cat. No. 1010/II

Strange Fellows

State/Variant:
State II of II
Date:
1989-2003
Alternate Title:
The Puritan
Themes:
Architecture
Techniques:
Etching
Description:
Etching, with blue watercolor additions
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate (overall): 33 1/8 × 6 7/8" (84.2 × 17.5 cm); sheet: 40 7/8 x 13 3/8" (103.8 x 34 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" right lower margin, pencil.
Inscription:
"VIII" left lower margin, pencil, unknown hand.
Publisher:
Osiris Editions, Hadley, Massachusetts
Printer:
Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:
8 (numbered I/VIII-VIII/VIII); plus an edition of 6 without hand additions (numbered 1/6-6/6), and an illustrated book edition of 12
Impression:
"VIII/VIII" lower center sheet verso, black colored pencil, artist's hand.
Edition Information:
Each impression in this edition includes hand additions, consistently applied. State II was also published in a separate edition of 6, without hand additions.

A separate edition of this composition was published in an illustrated book titled, "One's Sleep." The illustrated book includes 18 plates with hand additions, in all. (See Evolving Composition Diagram.)
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in etching: new plates added to the left and right of the bottom plate, extending the width to match the top plate; new long, vertical plate added in between the top plate to the bottom plate.
Background:
This composition was initially developed in 1989 in conjunction with Benjamin Shiff, director of Osiris, as a preliminary trial for the book project "the puritan" (see below in Related Works in the Catalogue) although it did not ultimately appear in that book. Bourgeois and Shiff returned to the composition in 2003, creating impressions to issue in separate editions, and to include in the book “One’s Sleep".
Artist’s Remarks:
"This is not a column, it is a self-portrait... see the hair?" Pointing to the little house, Bourgeois said, "This is where I came from, but I'm smart... look what I became! It is completely free... it can stand alone." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. “The Prints of Louise Bourgeois.” New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 155.)
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 82
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
535.2005

The Strange Fellows
1989-2003

States

Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows. 1989
State I of II, variant
1989
Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows. 1989
State I of II, variant
1989
Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows. 1989
State I of II, variant
1989
Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows. 1989
State I of II, variant
1989
Published Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows. 1989-2003
State II of II
1989-2003
Published Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows. 1989-2003
State II of II
1989-2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows, plate 5 of 18, from the illustrated book, One's Sleep (1). 2003
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION State II of II
2003
Published NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. Strange Fellows, plate 5 of 18, from the illustrated book, One's Sleep (3). 2003
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION State II of II
2003

Illustrated Book
2003

NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION Louise Bourgeois. One's Sleep. 2003
NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION One's Sleep
2003
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