Personage

Cat. No. 681/II

Personage

State/Variant:
State II of II
Date:
c. 1948
Alternate Title:
Personage Top Heavy
Themes
Abstraction, Figures, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 6 15/16 x 5 3/8" (17.6 x 13.6 cm); sheet: 10 1/16 x 6 7/8" (25 x 17.4 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" lower right 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unpublished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.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 59
Description:
Soft ground etching, with selective wiping, and pencil and conté crayon additions
Inscription:
"état 2" lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand. Verso: "personage / top heavy / soft ground" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in etching: further bubble-like texture added to background.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
156.1990.2
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Personage

c. 1948

States
Personage
Personage

Related Works in the Catalogue

Boxwood Noon
Les Mollusques
Untitled, plate 5 of 15, from the series, Nature Study
Untitled, plate 4 of 15, from the series, Nature Study

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Hair
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Woman with Packages
Spring