Hamlet and Ophelia

Cat. No. 697/VI

Hamlet and Ophelia

State/Variant:
State VI of VI
Date:
1997
Themes
Figures, Nature, Spirals
Techniques
Lithography
Support:
Smooth, wove Arches paper
Dimensions:
composition and sheet: 29 5/8 x 42" (75.3 x 106.7 cm)
Signature:
"LB / 97" lower right comp., black crayon.
Publisher
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Printer
SOLO Impression
Edition:
50; plus 20 A.P., 5 T.P., 5 for BAM, 4 P.P., 1 B.A.T.
Edition Information:
There are two editioned impressions in the MoMA Collection: this impression, no. 29/50, and A.P. 19, seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. The MoMA Conservation Department has confirmed that there are blue crayon additions in the lower left composition of both editioned impressions (in addition to the white gouache and red crayon additions in the top figure's arm on this impression). It is likely the entire edition has blue crayon additions, varying slightly from impression to impression.
Impression:
"29/50" lower right comp., black crayon, unknown hand.
Background:
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center located in Brooklyn, New York. For more than 150 years, BAM has been the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas—engaging both global and local communities. With world-renowned programming in theater, dance, music, opera, and film, BAM showcases the work of emerging artists and innovative modern masters.

BAM's Visual Arts Initiative, a program that connects the visual and performing arts, approached Bourgeois to produce a work to benefit the organization. Bourgeois offered "Hamlet and Ophelia," which was then reproduced on the program for the 1997 Spring Season.

The source drawing for "Hamlet and Ophelia" is Untitled, no. 135 of 220, from the series, "The Insomnia Drawings." The drawing was reproduced on the cover of "Otte," Bourgeois's 1995 rap album, with lyrics and vocals by the artist, music by Satch Hoyt and Ramuntcho Matta, and production by Brigitte Cornand.
Description:
Lithograph, with white gouache, red and blue crayon, and red ink additions
Inscription:
"To Jean Claude" lower right comp., erased pencil, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
The progression of this composition, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 8 lithography plates.

Plate 1 in red: figures.

Plate 2 in dark blue: horizontal line between figures, shoes, Adam’s apple, water.

Plate 3 in light blue: shading in Ophelia’s hair.

Plate 4 in turquoise: sky.

Plate 5 in dark blue: shading in Ophelia’s hair.

Plate 6 in black: horizontal line between figures, penis, Adam’s apple, shoes, eyes.

Plate 7 in light blue: waves and shading lines in water.

Plate 8 in dark blue: shading in sky, shading lines water, shading in Ophelia’s hair.

State Changes:
Plates 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8 printed.
Changes from state V, in plate 6, in lithography: eyes added; Adam’s apple shaded in; penis and shoes slightly altered.
Benefit Work:
For Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn
Artist’s Remarks:
Inscription on the verso of the source drawing: "La confiance est [strikethrough] / devrait être / endémique petit à petit / je vais l'attraper / Sauvée par la Routine / 5 minutes at a time / Elle n'est pas Ophelia et ses cheveux / She is not Ophelia" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "HAPPY (FEB 14) / VALENTINE [sic] DAY" center sheet, red ink, artist's hand.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
536.1997
This Work in Other Collections:
Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Massachusetts (state VI)
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia (state VI)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA (state VI)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Hamlet and Ophelia

1997

Source

1995

Untitled, no. 135 of 220, from the series, The Insomnia Drawings
States
Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia

Related Works in the Catalogue

Couples
Le Lit Gros Édredon (with lips)

Related Works in Other Mediums

The Sweet Smell of Indigo
Embracing Couple
The Couple
Untitled