Mosquito

Cat. No. 405/II, variant

Mosquito

State/Variant:
State II of V, variant
Date:
1999
Themes
Animals & Insects, Motherhood & Family
Techniques
Drypoint
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 11 7/8 x 9 15/16" (30.2 x 25.3 cm); sheet: 14 x 10 7/8" (35.5 x 27.7 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
2 known impressions of state II
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of state V.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
According to the artist’s assistant, Jerry Gorovoy, Bourgeois began this composition by tracing an illustration from a book in her collection. The book had once been part of the inventory for Erasmus Books and Prints, the shop she opened for a brief period in the late 1950s.
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 pencil additions
Inscription:
"giving birth" lower middle margin, pencil, artist's hand
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in drypoint: cross-hatching on antennae and upper body outlines.
Additions in pencil: hanging sack containing baby, hair-like lines radiating from head, ears, and breasts delineated, all anticipating state III. Nipples delineated, anticipating state IV.
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:
914.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Mosquito

1999

Source

1999

Mosquito
States
Mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquito

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