Laurel Easton

Cat. No. 551

Laurel Easton

State/Variant:
Only state
Date:
1944
Themes
Nature
Techniques
Aquatint, Drypoint, Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 7 7/8 x 11 15/16" (20 x 30.4 cm); sheet: 9 7/16 x 12 11/16" (24 x 32.3 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower left margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Louise Bourgeois
Edition:
2 known impressions of the only state
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
The title of this composition refers to the country house in Easton, Connecticut that Bourgeois and her family purchased in 1941; it remains in the family.
Curatorial Remarks:
A photocopy of this impression from c. 1989 shows no initials in the lower left margin. These were added c. 1990.

This plate was reprinted in 1990 for possible inclusion in the "Quarantania" portfolio, but rejected due to corrosion of the plate.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 21
Description:
Soft ground etching, aquatint, and drypoint
Inscription:
"laurel easton" lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand. Verso:
"laurel / zinc steel [crossed out] plate/ soft ground / 8 x 12 / 29 [circled]" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Artist’s Remarks:
Bourgeois's grid compositions "classify things in order to control them." Here, as in the "Pinus Sylvestris" greeting card, she analyzed a phenomenon of nature. This print separates the parts of the Laurel. It is very important that it "be complete... that it show the seed, the roots, and the blossoming flower." She described "a passion to look at the fine differences... to find what makes you a specific person." She remembered that the Laurel is the state flower of Connecticut, that there was a lot of it in Easton, and also that it is "the most delicious herb to cook."
Bourgeois remembered having "a lot of trouble because this plate was steel." She "could not get into it." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 62.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
132.1990
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Laurel Easton

1944; reprinted 1990

States
Laurel Easton
Laurel Easton

Related Works in the Catalogue

Easton
Untitled (Tall Tree), in Les Arbres (4), from the editioned series of portfolios, Les Arbres (1-6)
Quarantania
The Symbols, plate 3 of 9, from the portfolio, Quarantania
Season's Greeting, plate 5 of 9, from the portfolio, Quarantania

Related Works in Other Mediums

Natural History #2
Natural History
Connecticutiana
Untitled
Natural History
Natural History