Male and Female

Cat. No. 506.1-2/diptych 1

Male and Female

State/Variant:
Diptych: Version 1 of 3, state I of VII, variant, and version 2 of 3, state I of VIII
Date:
2001
Themes
Animals & Insects
Techniques
Drypoint
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate (each): 13 7/8 x 9 15/16" (35.2 x 25.3 cm); sheet: 17 5/16 x 22 7/16" (44 x 57 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
5 known diptychs, outside the edition
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of Diptych 6, seen below in the Evolving Composition Diagram and comprising: left side (a): version 1, state VII, and right side (b): version 2, state VIII. This composition was also issued as a published edition at version 3, state II, titled "Le Chat."

Diptychs outside the edition are combinations of the first and second versions of this composition, at various states.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
In the 1950s, when Bourgeois was living with her husband and children in an apartment on 18th Street in New York City, the family had two cats: Champfleurette and Tyger.
Curatorial Remarks:
Although the development of the Male and Female diptych has been divided into first and second versions for clarity, Bourgeois worked on both plates concurrently.
Description:
Left and right sides (a and b): drypoint, with red, pink, and black ink, pencil, blue carbon, and white correction fluid additions
State Changes and Additions:
Left side (a): Version 1, state I, variant
Additions in blue carbon and pencil: tail and cat’s right rear leg reconfigured with exposed anus, anticipating state II.

Right side (b): Version 2, state I, variant
Changes from version 1: version 1, state I composition inverted and transferred to a new, identically sized plate, in drypoint.
Other Remarks:
According to printer Felix Harlan, the third, smaller version in the Evolving Composition Diagram was initially created as a test plate. Aquatint was being considered to add shading to the male cat. Ultimately, Bourgeois decided against aquatint for the shading, but she liked the compositional fragment on the test plate. She added the contour of the cat's body and editioned this version as "Le Chat" on handmade paper.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
1509.2008
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Male and Female

2001-2005

Source

2001

Female
First Version
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Female from Male and Female
Second Version
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Male from Male and Female
Diptych Version
Male and Female
Male and Female
Male and Female
Male and Female
Male and Female
Male and Female
Third Version
Le Chat
Le Chat

Related Works in the Catalogue

Champfleurette, the White Cat
Untitled, plate 1 of 5, from the illustrated book, Metamorfosis
Self Portrait
Untitled, no. 11 of 12, from the illustrated book, To Whom It May Concern
The Cross-Eyed Woman II

Related Works in Other Mediums

Nature Study
You Ask Me Too Much