Dancing Insect

Cat. No. 408/II

Dancing Insect

State/Variant:
State II of III
Date:
1999
Themes
Animals & Insects, Motherhood & Family
Techniques
Drypoint
Support:
Smooth, wove Hahnemühle paper
Dimensions:
plate: 11 7/8 x 9 15/16" (30.2 x 25.3 cm); sheet: 14 1/2 x 11 1/2" (36.9 x 29.2 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower right margin, red ink.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Edition:
1 known impression of state II
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition at any state.

The "AP" inscription, in the artist's hand, does not indicate a conventional A.P. impression, which would be of the published state.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
According to the artist's assistant, Jerry Gorovoy, Bourgeois began this composition by tracing an illustration from a book in her collection. The book had once been part of the inventory of Erasmus Books and Prints, the shop she opened for a brief period in the late 1950s.
Curatorial Remarks:
Without being able to examine it in person, it appears that the study is a color photocopy of state III of III, variant. Bourgeois made the photocopy in 2003, several years after she discontinued work on the "Dancing Insect" prints.
Description:
Drypoint, with red ink additions
Inscription:
"AP" lower left margin, red ink, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from state I, in drypoint: 3 ovals added to lower left composition; eyes, nostrils, legs, and feet added.
Additions in red ink: eyebrows and lips reinforced, hairs added to topmost limb on right side of insect's body, lines on abdomen extended, legs reinforced, all anticipating state III.
Other Remarks:
According to Bourgeois's assistant, Jerry Gorovoy, the three eggs in the lower left composition refer to Louise's three children and the insect is a self portrait of the artist.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
34.2012
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Dancing Insect

1999-2003

States
Dancing Insect
Dancing Insect
Dancing Insect
Dancing Insect
Studies
Untitled (Study for Dancing Insect)

Related Works in the Catalogue

Hairy Spider
Untitled, plate 8 of 9, from the portfolio, Ode à Ma Mère
Mosquito