Sacs Ouvert

Cat. No. 675/II

Sacs Ouvert

State/Variant:
State II of II
Date:
1946
Alternate Title:
White Whale; Sacs Ouverts Flottants (Floating Open Sacks)
Themes
Abstraction, Motherhood & Family, Nature
Techniques
Engraving
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 6 7/8 × 4 7/8" (17.5 × 12.4 cm); sheet: 9 13/16 × 6 11/16" (25 × 17 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil. "1946" lower left margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
The artist at Atelier 17
Edition:
1 known impression of state II
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.
Impression:
Not numbered
Curatorial Remarks:
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.

Given the inscription on the verso of this impression, it appears that Bourgeois considered this composition for "He Disappeared Into Complete Silents," but did not finally include it.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 47
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "Open Sacks"
Description:
Engraving
Inscription:
Verso: "he diaspeared [sic] / serie suite / sacs ouverts / 5 x 7 / 10 [circled]" center, pencil, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in engraving: oval form added in upper left composition, right pole further delineated, shading added to several forms.
Artist’s Remarks:
According to Bourgeois, this is about "pods and germination... it is about pregnancy."

The mound on the ground also provoked a memory of the family dog, Pyram. "The dog had died, but when my father buried him the hole was not deep enough... so, Pyram stayed with us." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 111.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
131.1990.2
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Sacs Ouvert

1946

States
Sacs Ouvert
Sacs Ouvert

Related Works in the Catalogue

Thompson Street
Ascension Lente
Papiers Dans le Vent
Tempête du Vent
He Disappeared into Complete Silence, first edition (Example 1)

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Untitled
Forêt (Night Garden)