Reaching

Cat. No. 597, variant 2

Reaching

State/Variant:
Only state, variant
Date:
1989
Themes
Abstraction
Techniques
Lithography
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
sheet: 17 3/4 x 12" (45.1 x 30.5 cm)
Signature:
Not signed
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
SOLO Impression
Edition:
8 known impressions of the only state
Edition Information:
Not issued as a published edition.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
In the early stages of their working relationship, printer and publisher Judith Solodkin of SOLO Impression, New York, brought Bourgeois two stones covered in black ink, with the hopes of encouraging her to work in lithography. Bourgeois worked on only one stone for this print.
Curatorial Remarks:
The paper type could not be determined because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The sheet size was provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio. The Studio also noted that this work is on a sheet that has been folded once.
Description:
Lithograph, with selective wiping
Artist’s Remarks:
"These shapes 'have managed a little bit of reaching power. Instead of destroying themselves by strangling, or by wanting too much, they have reached over. It is very sweet. It is wishful thinking... it is a morning wish.'" (Quote cited in Wye, Deborah and Carol Smith. "The Prints of Louise Bourgeois." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 159.)

About the source drawing, 1968: "This is the toi and the moi. You see, the spirals seem to be isolated. They exist only through the fact that they are reaching." (Quote cited in Bourgeois, Louise and Lawrence Rinder. "Louise Bourgeois Drawings and Observations." Berkeley: University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive University of California, Berkeley; Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1995, p. 130.)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Reaching

1989

Source

1968

Untitled
States
Reaching
Reaching
Reaching

Related Works in the Catalogue

Progression
Untitled, no. 12 of 12, from the series, Spirals

Related Works in Other Mediums

Lair
Untitled