The Geometry of Pleasure (#5)

Cat. No. 737

The Geometry of Pleasure (#5)

State/Variant:
Unique variant
Date:
2010
Themes
Abstraction, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper (3 sheets)
Dimensions:
sheet (a): 59 3/4 × 39 7/8" (151.8 × 101.3 cm); sheet (b): 59 5/8 × 39 7/8" (151.4 × 101.3 cm); sheet (c): 59 3/8 × 39 3/8" (150.8 × 100 cm)
Signature:
panel (a): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil;
panel (b): "Louise Bourgeois LB" lower right comp., pencil;
panel (c): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This composition is part of a group of multi-panel works with extensive hand additions titled "The Geometry of Pleasure (#1) - (#5)." The other works in this group can be seen below in Related Works in the Catalogue.
Impression:
Not numbered
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 wih 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.
Curatorial Remarks:
Plate dimensions are not given due to partial inking. For full plate dimensions, see the respective editioned impressions.

The paper type and color of the hand additions could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person.
Description:
panel (a): soft ground etching, with gouache, watercolor, and pencil additions;
panel (b): soft ground etching, with gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil additions;
panel (c): soft ground etching, with gouache, watercolor, colored pencil, and pencil additions
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
This 3-panel composition is made up of plates that are used in other compositions, but which are partially inked here. These plates, fully inked, were issued in editions as 2 separate compositions, which are noted below and can be seen in Related Works in the Catalogue.

panels (a) and (c): plate from "The Smell of Eucalyptus (#2)."
For these panels, only minor areas of the plate were inked.

panel (b): plate from "Swelling."
For this panel, the plate was partially inked.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

The Geometry of Pleasure (#5)

2010

Unique Variants
The Geometry of Pleasure (#5)

Related Works in the Catalogue

Swelling
The Geometry of Pleasure (#3)
The Geometry of Pleasure (#2)
The Smell of Eucalyptus (#2)
Pendule
Les Fleurs
The Geometry of Pleasure (#4)
The Geometry of Pleasure (#1)

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled
Les Fleurs
Les Lignes de Constructions Sont Invisibles
Untitled