Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu

Cat. No. 480.3/X, variant 3

Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu

State/Variant:
Version 3 of 3, state X of XI, variant
Date:
1997
Alternate Title:
Blue Bed; Bed #2; Le Lit...Fond Bleu (The Bed...Blue Background)
Themes
Architecture, Body Parts, Figures, Objects
Techniques
Aquatint, Drypoint, Engraving, Etching, Other Techniques
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 19 13/16 x 26 7/8" (50.3 x 68.3 cm); sheet: 24 3/8 x 30 15/16" (62 x 78.7 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois 1996" lower right margin, blue ink.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
3 known variant impressions of version 3, state X, outside the edition
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of version 3, state X. This composition was also issued as published editions at version 2, state IV and version 3, state XI.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
Version 2, state IV of this composition was published as a benefit for the Rivington House branch of Village Care of New York (previously Village Center for Care). Version 3, state XI of this composition was published as a benefit for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Curatorial Remarks:
The date of "1996" in the artist's hand seems to be in error. A printer's inscription on the verso, in pencil, is as follows: "22 August 1997."
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "The Big Blue Bed Quilt"
Description:
Soft ground etching, aquatint, drypoint, engraving, and roulette, with red gouache and blue chalk additions
Inscription:
"For Debby" lower left margin, blue ink, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
It appears that the progression of version 3, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 4 plates. The exact combinations of plates used for impressions before the editioning of state X and state XI could not be determined.

State Changes:
Changes from version 2: composition reconfigured and transferred to a new plate, in soft ground etching.
Additions in red gouache: break between floor and wall altered, anticipating version 3, state XI.
Changes from version 3, state IX, by burnishing: lines in bedspread partially removed, center left composition.
Artist’s Remarks:
Inscribed on the verso of the source drawing: "Aug 20th Wardrobe Series / Les dessin de lit ne sont pas mal, mais des sacs de matelas seraient mieux, dessins de lit, the more, the better. Ce dessin n'est pas assez exact."

"Two things you count in one's erotic life: dinner table and bed. The table where your parents made you suffer. And the bed where you lie with your husband, where your children were born and you will die. Essentially, since they are about the same size, they are the same object." (Quote cited in Munro, Eleanor. "Originals: American Women Artists." New York: Simon and Schuster,1979, pp. 154-9.)
Other Remarks:
According to the artist's assistant, Jerry Gorovoy, the subject of beds stems not only from their symbolic resonance for Bourgeois but also from her interest in their geometric and architectural forms. The bed motif is found in Bourgeois's drawings, sculptures, and installations, as well as in her prints (see Related Works in Other Mediums).

According to Wendy Williams of the Louise Bourgeois Studio, this composition was the source for the plaster and steel sculpture, "Arched Couple," 1999, seen below in Related Works in Other Mediums.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
44.1998
This Work in Other Collections:
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Bed and Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu

1997-1998

Source

1995

Untitled (Bed)

Source

1997

Uncontrollable Torrent

Source

1997

Untitled
First Version
Bed
Second Version
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Third Version
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu
Le Lit Gros Édredon (with lips)

Related Works in the Catalogue

Untitled, plate 2 of 5, from the illustrated book, Metamorfosis
Lips
Birth, plate 9 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait
Untitled, plate 7 of 7, from the portfolio, Metamorfosis
Untitled, plate 5 of 5, from the illustrated book, Metamorfosis

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Red Night
Cell I
Red Room (Parents)
In and Out
Arched Couple