Couples

Cat. No. 547.1/VII

Couples

State/Variant:
Version 1 of 2, state VII of VII
Date:
2001
Themes
Figures, Spirals
Techniques
Aquatint, Drypoint, Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 11 15/16 x 9 15/16" (30.3 x 25.3 cm); sheet: 15 15/16 x 13 15/16" (40.5 x 35.4 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
1 known impression of version 1, state VII
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of version 2, only state.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
Version 2 of this composition was published as a benefit for The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia to help fund the 2001-02 exhibition "Louise Bourgeois at the Hermitage." It was the first time the work of a living American artist was shown at this venue. Julie Sylvester curated the exhibition and published the print under the imprint, Bermuda Editions. A reproduction of the print (version 1, state IV, variant 1 in the Evolving Composition Diagram, below) formed the cover of a special edition of the exhibition catalogue: Sylvester, Julie and Mikhail Piotrovsky. "Louise Bourgeois at the Hermitage." St. Petersburg: The State Hermitage Museum, 2001.
Curatorial Remarks:
The imagery of wrapped couples in this composition is related to a performance piece Bourgeois created in 1992. At that time, she executed a 178-foot long cloth banner with a red screen-printed text, titled "She Lost It." The text comprises a self-authored parable. (See "She Lost It" below in Related Works in the Catalogue.) On December 5, 1992, the artist orchestrated a multi-part performance in Philadelphia with the banner as the centerpiece. The performance began with the banner fully wrapped around a single performer. Slowly the banner was unwrapped by other performers and re-wrapped around a standing and embracing couple. The parable printed on the banner could be read by the audience as the unwrapping and re-wrapping took place. When the embracing couple was fully wrapped by the banner, it looked very much like one of the "Couples" in this composition.
Description:
Drypoint, aquatint, and soft ground etching
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
The progression of version 1, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, involved 3 plates.

Plate 1: overall composition; printed in black, blue, or red.

Plate 2: details in figures’ hair, faces, and shoes; printed in red.

Plate 3: details in figures’ faces, shading in spirals and in female figures’ hair and shoes, horizon line; printed in red.

State Changes:
Plate 1 printed in black, over plate 3 printed in red.
Changes from version 1, state VI, by burnishing: soft ground etching removed from figures’ faces.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
1437.2012
This Work in Other Collections:
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Couples

2001

Source

1995

Untitled, no. 139 of 220, from the series, The Insomnia Drawings

Source

2001

Couples
First Version
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Couples
Second Version
Couples
Couples

Related Works in the Catalogue

Hamlet and Ophelia
She Lost It (1)
Louise and Robert, plate 6 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait
Spiral Woman, plate 2 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
Embracing the Tree
The Couple, plate 5 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
Progression

Related Works in Other Mediums

Spiral Woman
Couple
Untitled
The Couple
The Couple
Couple I