Whitney Murders

Cat. No. 598.1, variant 4

Whitney Murders

State/Variant:
Version 1 of 3, only state, variant
Date:
1978
Themes
Words
Techniques
Other Techniques, Relief
Support:
Thin, laid Japanese paper
Dimensions:
composition: 10 7/16 x 11 9/16" (26.5 x 29.3 cm); sheet: 12 5/8 x 16 7/8" (32.1 x 42.8 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Louise Bourgeois
Edition:
4 known variant impressions of version 1
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.
Impression:
Not numbered
Curatorial Remarks:
This impression is printed in relief on the verso and recto. The print on the verso shows through to the recto.

In Wye and Smith, "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois," 1994, p. 144-147, techniques were catalogued as follows: Versions 1 and 2: lead rubbing; version 3: stencil and rubbing. Actually, the artist's inscription on an impression of version 1 clarifies that she was referring to the method of relief printing in which a spoon is used to apply pressure to the verso of the paper sitting on top of the plate, thus transferring the image without the use of a printing press. This is the technique that was used in the printing of version 1 and 2. In contrast, version 3 includes rubbing (frottage) in the traditional sense.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 72.4
Description:
Relief, from stamped plate
Inscription:
"Rubbing à la cuillère" lower right margin, pencil, artist's hand; "LEAD RUBBING -- 1978 c [circled]" lower right margin, blue ink, artist's hand.
Artist’s Remarks:
"When this was done, it was a real exorcism... I didn't hold a grudge. There had been a sharp disappointment." Bourgeois continued, "I think it was that I was not included in a show... I was refused."
Showing some lead sheets like those she used for the matrices of these prints, she remarked, "I love this material... lead... I cut out the shape. I would call the metal letters branding... I used a mallet to bang them. I used it because I wanted to emphasize it. There is branding, rubbing, and stencil here. This is experimental." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 144.)

"The impetus and the violence came from the fact that I was put in a situation of rivalry with a lot of my colleagues. [...] 'Whitney Murders' meant I resented so much the whole thing, because I was not in. You see? That I was ready to murder everybody, right?" (Quote cited in Bourgeois, Louise and Lawrence Rinder. "Louise Bourgeois Drawings and Observations." Berkeley: University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive University of California, Berkeley; Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1995, pp. 316-317.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
165.1990
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Whitney Murders

1978

First Version
Whitney Murders
Whitney Murders
Whitney Murders
Whitney Murders
Matrix (Second Version)
Untitled (Lead Plate for Whitney Murders)
Second Version
Whitney Murders
Third Version
Whitney Murders

Related Works in the Catalogue

Weaving
Weaving Word
No (2)
Self-Pity

Related Works in Other Mediums

Rejection
He Murders My Eyes
Rejection Makes Me Wild