Paris Review

Cat. No. 567/VIII

Paris Review

State/Variant:
State VIII of VIII
Date:
1994
Themes
Abstraction, Spirals
Techniques
Aquatint, Drypoint, Other Techniques
Support:
Smooth, wove Somerset paper
Dimensions:
plate: 31 13/16 x 23 5/8" (80.8 x 60 cm); sheet: 36 13/16 x 28 1/16" (93.5 x 71.2 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois. 1994" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
The Paris Review
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
35; plus 10 A.P., 4 P.P., and an edition of 65 in black and white.
Edition Information:
There are 2 known variant color impressions of state VIII, outside the color edition.

State VIII was also editioned in black and white, and did not include plate 4.
Impression:
"AP 10/10" lower left margin, pencil, unknown hand.
Background:
Founded in Paris in 1953, The Paris Review is now based in New York and showcases emerging writers and artists, introduces unpublished poetry and fiction by established writers, and presents interviews. Works of art are regularly featured, and sometimes whole portfolios or series by individual artists are reproduced. Since 1965, the magazine has published editioned prints to raise money. In 1992 the magazine asked Bourgeois to create such a benefit print, which also appeared on the cover of the Spring 1994 issue, No. 130.
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 147
Description:
Aquatint and drypoint, with white acrylic stencil additions
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
The progression of this composition, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 4 plates. The published color edition included plates 1, 3, and 4, while the published black and white edition included only plates 1 and 3.

Plate 1: overall composition, except for dotted lines; printed in red or black.
Plate 2: curving, dotted lines; printed in red or black.
Plate 3: (replaces plate 2) curving, dotted lines reconfigured with larger, more widely spaced dots; printed in red or black.
Plate 4: tonal background shading; printed in blue.

State Changes and Additions:
Plate 4 printed over plate 1, printed over plate 3.
Changes from state VII, in aquatint: further shading added to globular shape in center right composition.
Benefit Work:
For The Paris Review, New York
Artist’s Remarks:
"I like the Rorschach effect here... it is like the optical illusion... others see things in it. It can be a toi, not a moi." Bourgeois noted that this print was based on a red ink and watercolor drawing done several months earlier, at the same time she was being constantly interviewed, photographed, and filmed in preparation for the Venice Biennale, in which she represented the United States. For this print, she turned the image upside down. "This is the pomegranate... it is the movement of twisting and squeezing out the juice of the pomegranate. All those interviewers squeezed me to exhaustion... so this was a remark on them. This can only happen to an over-achiever... an over-achiever wants to please... wants to please the teacher... she can't resist... she doesn't know how to say no. It is exhausting. When you are in the grip of Barbara Walters, you cannot fight back!" [Barbara Walters is only meant figuratively here.]

"I received constant encouragement and flattery from my family and was never criticized. That formed a pattern for my whole life. I am an over-achiever. That is different from ambition because it is a desire to please you, one person... not to please the world. But the over-achiever can allow herself to be manipulated by an interviewer. There is exhaustion, but then there is release if you see that your effort was not in vain... that you were understood." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 229.)

Inscribed on the verso of the source drawing: "The Camel through the eye of the needle."
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
541.1994.1
This Work in Other Collections:
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Paris Review

1993-1994

Source

1993

Untitled
Studies
Untitled (Study for Paris Review)
States
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