Untitled, plate 1 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature

Cat. No. 444/II

Untitled, plate 1 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature

State/Variant:
State II of II
Date:
1998
Portfolio:
Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature
Themes
Nature
Techniques
Drypoint, Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove Magnani Incisione paper
Dimensions:
plate: 21 3/4 x 29 13/16" (55.3 x 75.8 cm); sheet: 27 15/16 x 39" (71 x 99 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois 98" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
Whitney Museum of American Art Editions , Julie Sylvester-Cabot
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
28; plus 12 A.P., 3 P.P., 1 H.C., 1 B.A.T.
Edition Information:
While no pencil additions appear on this plate, pencil additions do appear on plates 3, 4, and 8 of this portfolio and plates 3 and 4 of another portfolio (A.P. 1/12). It is unknown whether pencil additions occur on portfolios across the edition.
Impression:
"a.p. 5/12" lower left margin, pencil, unknown hand.
Background:
According to Bourgeois’s assistant Jerry Gorovoy, topiary work interested Bourgeois because the cutting and healing of the plant makes the tree stronger.

Print publisher Julie Sylvester-Cabot founded the Whitney Museum of American Art Editions in 1996, with the purpose of raising funds to be used for acquisitions. The “Topiary” portfolio had its debut at the Whitney in a small 1998 exhibition that also included Bourgeois's 1985 sculpture titled, “Henriette.”
Descriptive Title:
Tree
Description:
Drypoint and etching
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in etching: composition reinforced overall.
Benefit Work:
For Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Artist’s Remarks:
Inscribed on the verso of related drawing, "Topiary," 1997: “Robert Hughes or John Russell / Vocabulary of the topiarist / Tree surgeon / The classical style is built on topiary / French garden, formality / Tivoli, the romantic 19th century English-garden / Care-giver – topiarist. = sculpture / The couple – cauterization / Flaming / TAR + shears / Antiseptic / Water=repellent / topiary AP. 97”

Written on a loose sheet, c. 1990s:
“Topiary
The trainer, the teacher, the carver, the butcher
To reject (cut off) and be moral about it
That is the fun
To nurture and train to full potential (valuable, useful)
I am going to cut (reject) everything in sight because I did not get what I wanted
What
To be loved by 1, 2, 3, 4
c’est la peur […]”
(The Easton Foundation: LB-0050)
Installation Remarks:
The prints in this portfolio can be shown as a group, or individually.
Bibliography:
Manchester, Elizabeth. “Louise Bourgeois: Tree with Trunk, 1998.” Tate Modern website, 2003. www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bourgeois-tree-p78621/text-summary. Last accessed November 7, 2014.

This article connects themes in the portfolio to recurring themes in the whole of Bourgeois's artwork, such as amputation and mutilation, the use of trees and plants as a metaphor for the human psyche, and the emotional significance of color.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
416.1999.1
This Work in Other Collections:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Tate Modern, London
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Untitled, plate 1 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature

1998

Source

1997

Topiary
States
Untitled, plate 1 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature
Untitled, plate 1 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature

Portfolio

1998

Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature

Related Works in the Catalogue

Topiary
Untitled, plate 2 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature
Untitled, plate 3 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature
Untitled, plate 4 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature
Untitled, plate 6 of 10, from the portfolio, Homely Girl, A Life
Untitled, plate 9 of 9, from the portfolio, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature
Untitled (Three Trees), from the editioned series of portfolios, Les Arbres (1-6)
Untitled (Tall Tree), in Les Arbres (5), from the editioned series of portfolios, Les Arbres (1-6)

Related Works in Other Mediums

Topiary III
Topiary
Les Lignes de Constructions Sont Invisibles
Untitled
Henriette