Pierre

Cat. No. 426/VI

Pierre

State/Variant:
State VI of VI
Date:
1939
Alternate Title:
Birthday
Themes
Figures, Motherhood & Family, Objects
Techniques
Drypoint, Etching, Other Techniques
Support:
Smooth, laid paper
Dimensions:
plate: 9 15/16 x 6 15/16" (25.2 x 17.7 cm); sheet: 15 3/4 x 9 3/16" (40 x 23.3 cm)
Signature:
"L Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Louise Bourgeois
Edition:
1 known impression of state VI
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.

Although this composition was not published at any state, two impressions are numbered 4/10, and one is numbered 5/10.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
Bourgeois had two siblings: Pierre, her younger brother, and Henriette, her older sister.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 17
Description:
Soft ground etching, drypoint, and monotype, with selective wiping and pencil additions
Inscription:
"Birthday" [erased] lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand; "1939" [erased] lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand. Verso: "drypoint and / soft ground / Birthday / 74 [circled]" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.

The alternate title "Birthday" is inscribed on some impressions of this composition, and is the title listed in the exhibition "Art Sale for Armed Services," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state V, by burnishing: basket and right figure's forearm partially removed.
Changes from state V, in monotype: texture added to lower and right composition.
Artist’s Remarks:
"This is Pierre, my brother. He was always on my side. Here, I am a beautiful girl... look at the hair... but I have to be constantly told by my closest friend, my brother. That is the function of my brother... he has this role and he loves it... he is an unpaid and constant admirer. But this was not a luxury for me... this was a necessity. It is the role played today by John, the homeless man on my block," Bourgeois said in 1994. "He brings little presents to please me. I don't fall for it, but it is still nice. Here, Pierre brings me something to please me and I love it... it makes me feel good. Louise can do anything... I need my friends close by, saying, 'You can do no wrong.'" (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 54.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
117.1990.5
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Pierre

1939

States
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre
Pierre

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Pierre