The Swarm

Cat. No. 1103

The Swarm

State/Variant:
Only state
Date:
2009
Themes
Abstraction, Animals & Insects
Techniques
Aquatint
Support:
Smooth, wove paper
Dimensions:
plate: 34 7/8 x 31 3/4" (88.6 x 80.7 cm); sheet: 45 3/16 x 34" (114.7 x 86.4 cm)
Signature:
"Louise / Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
9; plus 1 T.P.
Edition Information:
There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.

There are 2 known unique variants outside the edition that incorporate this plate. They are listed below and included in the Evolving Composition Diagram.

"Essaim"
"The Sky Is Falling"
Impression:
"7/9" lower left margin, 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.
Description:
Aquatint
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
575.2013
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

The Swarm ; Essaim ; The Sky Is Falling

2008-2009

States
The Swarm
Unique Variants
Essaim
The Sky Is Falling

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