Hanging Weeds

Cat. No. 645.1/V

Hanging Weeds

State/Variant:
Version 1 of 2, state V of VI
Date:
1949
Alternate Title:
Hangings
Themes
Abstraction, Nature, Objects
Techniques
Engraving
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 6 15/16 x 4 7/8" (17.6 x 12.4cm); sheet: 9 13/16 × 7 11/16" (25 × 19.5 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil; "1949" lower left margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Louise Bourgeois
Edition:
1 known impression of version 1, state V
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.
Curatorial Remarks:
An amendment has been made here to the cataloguing found in Wye and Smith, "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois," 1994, p. 126. At that time, cataloguers were unaware of an earlier state, which surfaced in 2012. With the discovery of state I, each successive state is later (state I is now state II, state II is now state III, etc.).

State IV is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The state changes and additions described here are taken from the 1994 catalogue '"The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." The impression catalogued in 1994 is printed on smooth, wove paper; signed "L. Bourgeois 49" lower right margin, pencil; and included the inscription: "Hangings."

In the second half of the 1940s, Bourgeois spent time at Atelier 17, the print workshop of Stanley William Hayter. The workshop had transferred operations from Paris to New York during the war years. It is not known precisely which prints she made at the workshop since she also worked at home on a small press. The designation of “the artist at Atelier 17” as printer means that the impression was likely made at the workshop. The designation is based on dates, inscriptions, techniques favored at Atelier 17, and/or stylistic similarities to images in the illustrated book “He Disappeared into Complete Silence,” which the artist repeatedly cited as having been made at Atelier 17. It is also possible that Bourgeois worked on certain plates both at home and at the workshop, or pulled impressions at both places.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 56
Description:
Engraving
Inscription:
"1949" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
State IV (not available for illustration):
Changes from state III, in engraving: upper triangle further delineated, shading added to hanging form second from left, and additional lines added to top edge of floor area.

State V:
Changes from state IV, by burnishing: several stray marks removed from lower composition.
Artist’s Remarks:
For Bourgeois, this imagery recalled the house she lived in as a child in Antony. "The attic was very large because of the slope of the house. Antique chair frames were hung from the ceiling everywhere. My father collected them. He would take them down from the ceiling very delicately and examine them."
Bourgeois talked about supporting sculptures and different ways of achieving that. If a sculpture is standing and there is "a fear of it falling," it could always be hung from the ceiling instead. "It is a form of reassurance." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 126.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
91.1994
This Work in Other Collections:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (state VI)
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library (state III)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Hanging Weeds

1949; 1990

Source

1947

Untitled
First Version
Hanging Weeds
Hanging Weeds
Hanging Weeds
Hanging Weeds
Hanging Weeds
Hanging Weeds
Hanging Weeds
Second Version
Hanging Weeds

Related Works in the Catalogue

Pivotage Difficile
Ascension Lente
Pendus Fragile
Looking at Her Sidewise
Sheaves

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled