Strange Fellows

Cat. No. 1010/II

Strange Fellows

State/Variant:
State II of II
Date:
1989-2003
Alternate Title:
The Puritan
Themes
Architecture
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate (overall): 33 1/8 × 6 7/8" (84.2 × 17.5 cm); sheet: 40 7/8 x 13 3/8" (103.8 x 34 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" right lower margin, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris Editions
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
8 (numbered I/VIII-VIII/VIII); plus an edition of 6 without hand additions (numbered 1/6-6/6), and an illustrated book edition of 12
Edition Information:
Each impression in this edition includes hand additions, consistently applied. State II was also published in a separate edition of 6, without hand additions.

A separate edition of this composition was published in an illustrated book titled, "One's Sleep." The illustrated book includes 18 plates with hand additions, in all. (See Evolving Composition Diagram.)
Impression:
"VIII/VIII" lower center sheet verso, black colored pencil, artist's hand.
Background:
This composition was initially developed in 1989 in conjunction with Benjamin Shiff, director of Osiris, as a preliminary trial for the book project "the puritan" (see below in Related Works in the Catalogue) although it did not ultimately appear in that book. Bourgeois and Shiff returned to the composition in 2003, creating impressions to issue in separate editions, and to include in the book “One’s Sleep".
Former Cat. No.:
W & S 82
Description:
Etching, with blue watercolor additions
Inscription:
"VIII" left lower margin, pencil, unknown hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in etching: new plates added to the left and right of the bottom plate, extending the width to match the top plate; new long, vertical plate added in between the top plate to the bottom plate.
Artist’s Remarks:
"This is not a column, it is a self-portrait... see the hair?" Pointing to the little house, Bourgeois said, "This is where I came from, but I'm smart... look what I became! It is completely free... it can stand alone." (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. “The Prints of Louise Bourgeois.” New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 155.)
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
535.2005
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

The Strange Fellows

1989-2003

States
Strange Fellows
Strange Fellows
Strange Fellows
Strange Fellows
Strange Fellows
Strange Fellows
Strange Fellows, plate 5 of 18, from the illustrated book, One's Sleep (1)
Strange Fellows, plate 5 of 18, from the illustrated book, One's Sleep (3)

Illustrated Book

2003

One's Sleep

Related Works in the Catalogue

Montée Difficile
The Sky's the Limit
In the Distance
the puritan
Plate 9 of 9, from the illustrated book, He Disappeared into Complete Silence, first edition (Example 1)

Related Works in Other Mediums

Pillar
Echo VIII
Untitled