La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation

Cat. No. 583/IV

La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation

State/Variant:
State IV of IV
Date:
2003
Portfolio:
La Réparation
Alternate Title:
The Needle
Themes
Objects
Techniques
Drypoint, Engraving
Support:
Slightly textured, wove Hahnemühle paper
Dimensions:
plate: 11 x 8.5" (27.9 x 21.6 cm); sheet: 17 x 15" (43.2 x 38.1 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois 2003" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
Harlan & Weaver
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
35; plus 7 A.P., 5 P.P., 2 H.C., 1 B.A.T.
Impression:
"a.p. 6/7" lower left margin, pencil, unknown hand.
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "The Reparation"
Description:
Engraving and drypoint
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state III, by burnishing: contour line of hook partially removed.
Changes from state III, in engraving: contour line of hook re-drawn; line added to hook; lines reinforced overall.
Artist’s Remarks:
"My mother would sit out in the sun and repair a tapestry or a petit point. She really loved it. This sense of reparation is very deep within me.
I break everything I touch because I am violent. I destroy my friendships, my love, my children. People would not generally suspect it, but the cruelty is there in the work. I break things because I am afraid and I spend my time repairing. I am a sadist because I am afraid. Yet the reconciliations between people never really stick." (Quote cited in Meyer-Thoss, Christiane. "Louise Bourgeois: Designing for Free Fall." Zurich: Ammann, 1992, p. 187.)
Installation Remarks:
The prints in this portfolio can be shown as a group or individually. There is no required sequence.
Other Remarks:
According to Bourgeois's assistant Jerry Gorovoy, the artist sometimes used pliers to push her threaded needle through the thick fabric of her stuffed sculptures. An example is included in Related Works in Other Mediums below. Gorovoy also noted that Bourgeois may have traced actual tools to create this composition, similiarly to how she traced common household objects to develop the 2006 print series, "Lullaby."
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
543.2005.3
This Work in Other Collections:
Tate Modern, London (state IV)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

La Réparation , plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio La Réparation

2001-2003

Source

2001

The Needle
States
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
La Réparation, plate 3 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation

Portfolio

2003

La Réparation

Related Works in the Catalogue

Lullaby
Pliers

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Red Tools #6
Arch of Hysteria
Ode to the Needle