Untitled, no. 20 of 24, from the portfolio, Hours of the Day

Cat. No. 117.2

Untitled, no. 20 of 24, from the portfolio, Hours of the Day

State/Variant:
Version 2 of 2
Date:
2006
Portfolio:
Hours of the Day
Themes
Fabric Works, Music, Objects, Words
Techniques
Digital
Support:
Fabric
Dimensions:
composition: 13 7/8 x 23 15/16" (35.3 x 60.8 cm); sheet: 17 1/2 x 26 15/16" (44.5 x 68.5 cm)
Signature:
"LB" lower right of cover, stitched in red thread. "Louise Bourgeois" center of colophon, black ink. "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin of no. 25, black ink.
Publisher
Carolina Nitsch Editions , Lison Editions
Printer
Dyenamix
Edition:
7; plus 2 A.P., and an illustrated book version with an edition of 15 with 3 A.P.
Impression:
"3/7" center of colophon, black ink, unknown hand.
Background:
Lison Editions is a name Bourgeois adopted when she published works herself, late in her life. "Lison" is a nickname she had as a child. The full list of her nicknames is: Lise, Lison, Lisette, Louison, Louisette.

The background of the composition is printed to resemble music paper, which Bourgeois favored for drawings and can be found in her work as far back as the early 1940s. According to her assistant, Jerry Gorovoy, she returned to music paper as a drawing surface in 1994-95, at the time of her "Insomnia Drawings" series, when she listened to music during the night.
Curatorial Remarks:
The illustrated book version of "Hours of the Day" preceded the portfolio version. The dimensions of the portfolio are considerably larger than the dimensions of the illustrated book.

The cover and each two-page spread of the illustrated book have corresponding sheets in the portfolio. However, in the spreads of the illustrated book, the compositions are divided into two sections to accommodate the gutter.

The illustrated book and portfolio were created independently using separate digital files.
Description:
Digital print
Installation Remarks:
This composition is one of twenty-five that constitute a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together and in the indicated sequence.
Author Information:
The text comes from Bourgeois's daybooks, which she kept for each year up until the very last years of her life. She used them for appointments, and also annotated them with short texts and drawings.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
1351.2009.21
This Work in Other Collections:
Tate Modern, London
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Untitled, no. 20 of 24, from the illustrated book, Hours of the Day

2006

Formats
Untitled, no. 20 of 24, from the illustrated book, Hours of the Day
Untitled, no. 20 of 24, from the portfolio, Hours of the Day

Portfolio

2006

Hours of the Day

Illustrated Book

2006

Hours of the Day

Related Works in the Catalogue

Eternity
The Long Night
Self Portrait
Nature Study

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Untitled (Clocks)
Insomnia
Untitled, no. 174 of 220, from the series, The Insomnia Drawings
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

Hours of the Day,

New York: Carolina Nitsch Editions and Lison Editions, 2006

No. 20 of 24
Back and forth
Rhythm of the clock
The planet is a clock turning and ticking
You have to get in step
with the ticking of the world
Then it is all right