Cat. No. 426/I
Pierre
- State/Variant:
- State I of VI
- Date:
- 1939
- Alternate Title:
- Birthday
- Themes
- Figures, Motherhood & Family, Objects
- Techniques
- Drypoint, Etching
- Support:
- Smooth, wove Rives paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 9 15/16 x 6 15/16" (25.2 x 17.7 cm); sheet: 15 7/8 x 11 3/8" (40 x 28.9 cm)
- Signature:
- "L Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
- Publisher
- unpublished
- Printer
- Louise Bourgeois
- Edition:
- 1 known impression of state I
- Edition Information:
- Not issued as a published edition at any state.
Although this composition was not published at any state, two impressions are numbered 4/10, and one is numbered 5/10. - Impression:
- Not numbered
- Background:
- Bourgeois had two siblings: Pierre, her younger brother, and Henriette, her older sister.
- Former Cat. No.:
- W & S 17
- Description:
- Soft ground etching and drypoint, with selective wiping
- Inscription:
- "2" right lower margin, pencil, artist's hand; "Birthday" [erased] lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand. Verso: "Birthday / soft ground" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
The alternate title "Birthday" is inscribed on some impressions of this composition, and is the title listed in the exhibition "Art Sale for Armed Services," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942. - Artist’s Remarks:
- "This is Pierre, my brother. He was always on my side. Here, I am a beautiful girl... look at the hair... but I have to be constantly told by my closest friend, my brother. That is the function of my brother... he has this role and he loves it... he is an unpaid and constant admirer. But this was not a luxury for me... this was a necessity. It is the role played today by John, the homeless man on my block," Bourgeois said in 1994. "He brings little presents to please me. I don't fall for it, but it is still nice. Here, Pierre brings me something to please me and I love it... it makes me feel good. Louise can do anything... I need my friends close by, saying, 'You can do no wrong.'" (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 54.)
- MoMA Credit Line:
- Gift of the artist
- MoMA Accession Number:
- 229.1992.1
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Open to compare works
Select a work in the diagram below
State I of VI
1939
A
B
Pierre
1939
States
State I of VI
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
State II of VI
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
State III of VI, variant
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
State III of VI, variant
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
Not in MoMA's Collection
State III of VI, variant
1939
Not in MoMA's Collection
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
State IV of VI
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
State V of VI
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
State VI of VI
1939
<i>Pierre</i>
1939
Related Works in the Catalogue
Dream
Version 2 of 2, state IV of IV
1939
<i>Dream</i>
1939
Youth
State X of X, variant
1941-1944
<i>Youth</i>
1941-1944
Related Works in Other Mediums
Not in MoMA's Collection
Pierre
1998
Not in MoMA's Collection
Pierre
1998
Medium: Patchwork fabric
Dimensions: overall: 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 5 3/4" (22.2 x 14.6 x 14.6 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Not in MoMA's Collection
Pierre
1965
Not in MoMA's Collection
Pierre
1965
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: overall: 6 1/4 × 8 × 5 3/4" (15.9 × 20.3 × 14.6 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY