Tempête du Vent

Cat. No. 680/III

Tempête du Vent

State/Variant:
State III of III
Date:
c. 1948
Alternate Title:
Flottant (Floating)
Themes
Abstraction, Architecture, Nature
Techniques
Engraving
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 6 7/8 × 4 15/16" (17.5 × 12.6 cm); sheet: 9 13/16 × 6 9/16" (25 × 16.7 cm)
Signature:
"L. Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
The artist at Atelier 17
Edition:
1 known impression of state III
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
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 45
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "Tornado"
Description:
Engraving
Inscription:
Verso: "tempête / de / vent / 5 x 7 / flottant 4 / 11 [circled]" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state II, by burnishing: two vertical lines at lower center beneath oval form removed.
Changes from state II, in engraving: additional shading added to rightmost vertical form and sweeping rightmost form in upper right.
Artist’s Remarks:
"How do you survive... how do you keep your balance in a hurricane?" This image is "an exorcism of the fear of losing balance, of being blown away and demolished." It reminded Bourgeois of a quote about an oak and a reed ("le chêne et le roseau"): something about "a man being like a 'roseau' that thinks—anything can blow it; it leans, but it won't break."

Upon noticing that the bottom segment of the lairlike form near the center has been burnished away in a later state, she said: "It is taken away so it will swing... it is a way to get through turmoil and still stay in one piece. Even in a hurricane, if you have the right attitude you will recover." (Quotes cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 108.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
162.1990.3
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Tempête du Vent

c. 1948

States
Tempête du Vent
Tempête du Vent
Tempête du Vent

Related Works in the Catalogue

Pivotage Difficile
Ascension Lente
Looking at Her Sidewise
Tornado
Sacs Ouvert

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Fée Couturière