Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away

Cat. No. 744, unique variant 6, in 822

Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2010
Series:
I Give Everything Away
Alternate Title:
My Inner Life
Themes
Abstraction, Figures
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper (2 attached sheets)
Dimensions:
plate (in 2 vertical parts) (overall): 59 11/16 × 35 9/16" (151.6 × 90.4 cm); sheet (overall): 59 7/8 × 71" (152.1 × 180.3 cm)
Signature:
panel (b): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right sheet, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 7 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate. They all include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"My Inner Life (#1)"
"My Inner Life (#2)"
"My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet"
"My Inner Life (#5)"
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, "The Voice Says Yes" (This composition was originally titled "My Inner Life [#4]")
"I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)"
Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, "I Give Everything Away"

About the "My Inner Life" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping is consistent from impression to impression. Two impressions (8/9 and 9/9) have proofing of the "My Inner Life" plate on the verso. There is one known proof impression on the verso of "Elle," 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 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.
Curatorial Remarks:
The type of paper and mediums of the hand additions could not be documented because this impression is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impression in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
panel (a): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (b): Pencil
Installation Remarks:
This panel is one of 6 which constitute a single work of art. All of these panels are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

My Inner Life

2008-2010

States
My Inner Life
Unique Variants
My Inner Life (#1)
My Inner Life (#2)
My Inner Life (#3): Eugénie Grandet
My Inner Life (#5)
Untitled, no. 1 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes
Untitled, no. 1 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away
I Go To Pieces: My Inner Life (#6)

Series

2009

The Voice Says Yes

Series

2010

I Give Everything Away

Related Works in the Catalogue

Inner Life
Untitled
Elle
Spiral Woman II
Turning Inwards
Untitled, no. 5 of 14, from À l'Infini (set 1)

Related Works in Other Mediums

Do Not Abandon Me
Female Portrait
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

I Give Everything Away,

New York, Osiris, 2010

Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.

No. 1:
I
Give
every thing
away

No. 2:
I
DISTANCE
myself
from
myself

No. 3:
from
what
I
love
most.

No. 4:
I
leave
my
home

No. 5:
I
leave
the
nest

No. 6:
I
am
packing
my
bags