Untitled, no. 3 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension

Cat. No. 814, in 835

Untitled, no. 3 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension

State/Variant:
Unique variant
Date:
2007
Series:
Extreme Tension
Themes
Animals & Insects
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper (5 attached sheets)
Dimensions:
plate (a and e) (each): 59 1/16 × 15 3/4" (150 × 40 cm); plate (c): 60 1/4 × 19 3/4" (153 × 50.1 cm; sheet (overall): 58 3/4 × 116" (149.2 × 294.6 cm) (dimensions reflect full plate sizes; these are all partial prints)
Signature:
panel (e): "LB" lower right comp., pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
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 paper type and color of the hand additions could not be doucmented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from impressions of "Sangue" and "The Little Leeches" in MoMA's Collection. The overall sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
panel (a): Soft ground etching, with pencil additions
panel (b): Pencil
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with pencil additions
panel (d): Pencil
panel (e): Soft ground etching, with red ink and pencil additions
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
This 5-panel composition is made up of 2 plates that are used in other compositions. The compositions are noted below and can be seen in Related Works in the Catalogue.

panels (a) and (e): plate from "Sangsue."

panel (c): plate from "The Little Leeches."
Installation Remarks:
This composition is one of 11 that constitute a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together and in the indicated sequence.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

No. 3 of 8, from the series, Extreme Tension

2007

Unique Variants
Untitled, no. 3 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension

Series

2007

Extreme Tension

Related Works in the Catalogue

Sangsue
Untitled, no. 8 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension
The Little Leeches
Untitled

Related Works in Other Mediums

Eye to Eye
Maggots
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

Extreme Tension,

New York, Osiris, 2007

The fragments of text inscribed within this series originated as parts of a longer text written by the artist c. 1959. Those fragments are recorded below by panel. Following the fragments is the original text.

No. 1:
Extreme Tension

No. 2:
My scalp forehead ears
The base of the skull

No. 3:
Back of the neck
The back between the shoulder blades
The base of the ribs
Solar plexus

No. 4:
The stomach
The esophagus
The throat

No. 5:
The intestines
The rectum

No. 6:
The arms forearms hands fingers

No. 7:
The legs thighs ankles toes
The pelvis bones
The joints

No. 8:
The pains and cramps

No. 9:
The breathing
The palpitations
The hot flashes

No. 10:
The perspiration
extreme extreme tension

No. 11:
The smell of the hunted animal

Original Text:
scalp
the forehead
the ears
the base of the skull
the back of the neck
the back between the shoulder blades
the base of the ribs --
the solar plexus --
the stomach the esophagus the throat --
the intestines -- the anus
the pelvis bones the joints
the legs thighs ankle toes
the arms forearms and hands
the breathing the tr [sic]
the palpitations
the hot flashes
the pains -- the cramps --
the sweaty smell of the stalked
animal extreme tension skunk very
little is known as to the when
chow, chow mein one day, localize
mum

Louise Bourgeois, c. 1959. Loose sheet: 10 x 8" (25.4 x 20.3 cm). LB-0768; © The Easton Foundation.