Fences Are Obsolete

Cat. No. 763, variant 2

Fences Are Obsolete

State/Variant:
Only state, variant
Date:
1999
Themes
Architecture
Techniques
Drypoint
Support:
Smooth, wove Hahnemühle paper
Dimensions:
plate: 7 15/16 × 10 7/8" (20.1 × 27.7 cm); sheet: 11 x 15 1/2" (28 x 39.4 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower right margin, red ink.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
3 known impressions of the only state, outside the edition
Edition Information:
The additional known impression of the only state, outside the edition, is in MoMA's Collection (Accession Number: 906.2008). It is not illustrated, due to its similarity to the published impression seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
Impression:
Not numbered
Curatorial Remarks:
Publisher Harlan & Weaver groups the editioned state of this composition with ten other drypoints of 1999, under the title, “11 Drypoints.” Each of the 11 compositions can be displayed individually. The full set is as follows:
“The Accident”
“The Angry Cat”
“Don’t Put Your Foot in Your Mouth”
“Fear”
“Feet (Socks)”
“Fences Are Obsolete”
“Madeleine”
“Mosquito”
“Mother and Child”
“Please Hang in There”
“The Smell of the Feet”
Description:
Drypoint, with red ink additions
Inscription:
Verso: "Stephen Spender / said good fences / make good neighbours / I say no [italicized and underlined] fences make / good neighbours" upper left sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "fences are obsolete, / 1999" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Bibliography:
Malbert, Roger, and Juliet Mitchell. "Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical Prints." London: Hayward, 2016. (Catalogue accompanying the touring exhibition "Louise Bourgeois Prints: Autobiographical Series and 11 Drypoints".)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
908.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Fences Are Obsolete

1999

Source

1998

Music on the Airs
States
Fences Are Obsolete
Fences Are Obsolete
Fences Are Obsolete

Related Works in the Catalogue

Lacs de Montagne
Untitled

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Untitled
Dancing Houses
Fences Are Obsolete
Untitled
Topiary