Look Up!

Cat. No. 771

Look Up!

State/Variant:
Only state
Date:
2009
Themes
Abstraction, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Textured, wove paper (2 sheets, displayed vertically and slightly overlapping at the meeting point)
Dimensions:
composition (upper): 46 5/8 × 10 3/4" (118.5 × 27.3 cm); sheet (upper): 46 5/8 × 10 3/4" (118.5 × 27.3 cm); composition (lower): 46 7/8 × 10 3/4" (119 × 27.3 cm); sheet (lower): 48 5/16 × 10 3/4" (122.8 × 27.3 cm); sheet (overall): 93 1/2 x 10 3/4" (237.5 x 27.3 cm) (when exhibited, the upper sheet slightly overlaps the lower sheet to connect the upper and lower halves of the composition)
Signature:
"LB" right lower comp., pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
9
Edition Information:
“Look Up!” was made with 7 plates arranged vertically. The plates are numbered 1-7 according to their positions in “Look Up!” from top to bottom. Impressions of the individual plates can be seen in the Plates 1-7 row in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. The full “Look Up!” composition is seen in the States row.

In the “Look Up!” edition of 9, selective wiping and sheet size vary from impression to impression. Also, impression number “3/9” is printed on a cream paper, as opposed to the beige paper used for all other impressions in the edition. There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large “X” drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.

The unique variants and the series of installation sets “La Rivière Gentille” (1-3) use only “Look Up!” plates 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 (not 4 and 7). Some unique variants use a single plate while others use a combination. All known unique variants have hand additions and can be seen in the Unique Variants row in the Evolving Composition Diagram. The unique variants in “La Rivière Gentille” are organized separately; panels from all 3 sets are in rows according to which combination of plates is used.
Impression:
"9/9" lower left comp., pencil, artist's hand.
Background:
Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.

Osiris put together a grouping of Bourgeois's late, large-scale soft ground etchings under the title "Turning Inwards." Nine sets were announced. Each "Turning Inwards" set is unique, containing a different number of prints. Sets include editioned prints as well as early proofs. Some also have multiple impressions of the same composition, due to differences in inking and wiping.

The "Turning Inwards" sets are not considered formal series that must be shown in their entirety; the prints in each set can be displayed separately.

Set #1 of 9 contains 67 prints and is in the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Set #2 contains 43 prints and is in the collection of the Tate Modern. Set #3 contains 38 prints. Set #4 contains 39 prints. The contents of sets #5-9 were not known by MoMA cataloguers, as of 2018.

The title "Turning Inwards" is given to the overall grouping and is also the title of one of the individual compositions within it. Titles that may appear in the various "Turning Inwards" sets are as follows:

1. À Baudelaire
2. Abandoned
3. Accumulations
4. Are You in Orbit? (#1)
5. Are You in Orbit? (#2)
6. The Awakening
7. The Chain of Events
8. The Fall
9. La Famille
10. Les Fleurs
11. I See You!!!
12. Incognito
13. Just Like Me
14. Knots
15. Leaves
16. Let My Children Come
17. Look Up!
18. Losing It
19. Love and Kisses
20. La Maladie de l'Amour
21. My Inner Life
22. My Secret Life
23. The Nest
24. Opening Up
25. The Pacifiers
26. Paddle Woman
27. Passages
28. Pendule
29. The Prey of an Anxiety
30. Sangsue
31. The Smell of Eucalyptus (#1)
32. The Smell of Eucalyptus (#2)
33. The Stretch
34. Swaying
35. Swelling
36. Turning Inwards
37. The Twist
38. The Unfolding
39. Up and Up

This impression is in MoMA's set #1 of 9.
Curatorial Remarks:
The partial plate impressions seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram were each numbered by the artist on their versos. However, MoMA cataloguers renumbered the partial plates according to their positions (from top to bottom) in the full composition of the "Look Up!" edition. See the inscriptions on each partial plate impression for the artist's numbering.
Description:
Soft ground etching, with selective wiping
Inscription:
Upper sheet verso: "top / (Look Up)" lower center sheet, pencil, artist's hand. Lower sheet verso: "look up! / (9/9 Bottom)" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.

MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
270.2011.a-b
This Work in Other Collections:
Tate Modern, London
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Look Up! ; La Rivière Gentille ; No. 7 in Nothing to Remember (set 1)

2004-2010

Plates 1-7
Plate 1 of 7 from Look Up!
Plate 2 of 7 from Look Up!
Plate 3 of 7 from Look Up!
Plate 4 of 7 from Look Up!
Plate 5 of 7 from Look Up!
Plate 6 of 7 from Look Up!
Plate 7 of 7 from Look Up!
States
Look Up!
Look Up!
Look Up!
Unique Variants
C'est le Murmure de l'Eau Qui Chante
Untitled, no. 7, in Nothing to Remember (set 1), from the series of folio sets (1-6)
La Pousse Bleue
Pregnant Woman
Les Trois
Les Cinq
Nous Deux
Nous Sommes Cinq
Look Up!! (#1)
Look Up!! (#2)
Look Up!! (#3)
Look Up!! (#4)
Look Up!! (#5)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 5 & 6
Untitled, no. 2 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 6 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 12 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 23 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 8 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 12 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 21 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 35 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 27 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 1 & 2
Untitled, no. 3 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 5 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 8 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 25 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 34 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 41 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 10 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 2 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 3 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 4 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 6 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 15 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 25 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 2 & 3
Untitled, no. 10 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 29 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 33 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 40 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 22 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 3 & 5
Untitled, no. 19 of 42 in La Rivière Gentille (set 1), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 28 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 1, 2 & 3
Untitled, no. 23 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 27 of 48 in La Rivière Gentille (set 2), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 24 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 2, 3 & 5
Untitled, no. 9 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 3, 5 & 6
Untitled, no. 26 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
Untitled, no. 29 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)
La Rivière Gentille pl. 2-3, 5-6
Untitled, no. 23 of 30 in La Rivière Gentille (set 3), from the series of installation sets (1-3)

Related Works in the Catalogue

To the Voyeur
Leaves
Incognito
Untitled (Branch with Tall Leaf Cluster), in Les Arbres (3), from the editioned series of portfolios, Les Arbres (1-6)
The Chain of Events
The Fall
Up and Up
Swaying

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Abstract Figure
Untitled
Breasted Woman
Concentric Growth