Insomnia

Cat. No. 125.1/I

Insomnia

State/Variant:
Version 1 of 2, state I of III
Date:
2000
Themes
Body Parts, Faces & Portaits, Objects
Techniques
Drypoint
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 11 15/16 x 9 15/16" (30.3 x 25.2 cm); sheet: 17 1/8 x 10 15/16" (43.5 x 27.8 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
1 known impression of version 1, state I
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of version 2, only state.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
In 1994-95, Bourgeois, who was plagued by insomnia, created a series of 220 works on paper during sleepness nights. She kept them together as a group, calling them, "The Insomnia Drawings." The dealer and publisher Peter Blum mounted the first exhibition of this series during the Basel Art Fair in June 1995. Later, the Daros Collection of Zurich, Switzerland, purchased the series and decided to reproduce them in a two-volume book called, "Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings," which was published in 2000. The first volume contains facsimiles of both the recto and verso of the 220 drawings. The second volume is comprised of a foreward by Stephan Schmidheiny, texts by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Elisabeth Bronfen, a chronology, and a checklist, transcriptions, and notes.This two-volume work was published by Daros, Zurich, in collaboration with Peter Blum Edition, New York, and Scalo, Zurich, Berlin, New York.
For a special limited edition of this two-volume work, a drypoint entitled "Insomnia" was selected to serve as a bound-in frontispiece in the first volume. Since the selected drypoint was too large for this purpose, it was reworked in a second version, at a reduced size.
Description:
Drypoint, with red crayon additions
State Changes and Additions:
Additions in red crayon: figure's eyes and nipples further delineated, anticipating state II; her right shoulder, ears, lip, and hair to the right of her face, all further delineated, anticipating state III.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
972.2008
This Work in Other Collections:
Tate Modern, London
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Insomnia

2000

Source

2000

Insomnia
First Version
Insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia
Second Version
Insomnia, frontispiece, from the illustrated book, Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings
Insomnia, frontispiece from the illustrated book, Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings
Insomnia, frontispiece, from the illustrated book, Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings
Insomnia, frontispiece, from the illustrated book, Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings
Insomnia, frontispiece, from the illustrated book, Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings
Insomnia
Insomnia

Related Works in the Catalogue

Nothing Escapes Me
Untitled, no. 4 of 8, from the illustrated book, Homely Girl, A Life, volume II
Insomnia
Insomnia
Spiraling Eyes
Untitled, no. 2 of 12, from the portfolio, Anatomy
Tête à l'envers

Related Works in Other Mediums

Nature Study (Velvet Eyes)
Untitled
Untitled