Cat. No. 773, unique variant 3, in 835
Untitled, no. 6 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension
- State/Variant:
- Only state, unique variant
- Date:
- 2007
- Series:
- Extreme Tension
- Alternate Title:
- Slipping Away
- Themes
- Body Parts
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Paper (2 attached sheets)
- Dimensions:
- plate: 55 13/16 × 15 5/16" (141.8 × 38.9 cm (dimensions reflect full plate size; this is a partial print); sheet (overall): 58 7/16 × 71 15/16" (148.5 × 182.8 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (b): "LB" lower right sheet, pencil.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- This is one of 4 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with another plate in a multi-panel work. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with another plate, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.
See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"Extreme Tension!!!"
"Extreme Tension!!"
Untitled, no. 6 of 11, from the series, "Extreme Tension"
See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"À Qui La Faute"
"Slipping Away" was not issued as a published edition. There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate. - 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 mediums of the hand additions could not be documented because this work 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 overall sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
- Description:
- panel (a): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (b): Pencil - 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.
Only state, unique variant
2007
Slipping Away
2006-2007
Only state
2006
<i>Slipping Away</i>
2006
Only state, unique variant
2006
<i>Extreme Tension!!!</i>
2006
Only state, unique variant
2006
<i>Extreme Tension!!</i>
2006
Only state, unique variant
2007
Untitled, no. 6 of 11, from the series, <i>Extreme Tension</i>
2007
Series
2007
Extreme Tension
2007
<i>Extreme Tension</i>
2007
Related Works in the Catalogue
Marriage, plate 5 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait
Only state
2009
<i>Marriage</i>, plate 5 of 24, from the series,<i> Self Portrait</i>
2009
À Qui la Faute
Unique variant
2008
<i>À Qui la Faute</i>
2008
Untitled
State II of II, variant
1999
Untitled
1999
Hands
State III of VIII
2002-2003
<i>Hands</i>
2002-2003
Don't Swallow Me!
Unique variant
2008
<i>Don't Swallow Me!</i>
2008
Untitled, no. 1 of 11, from the series, Extreme Tension
Only state, unique variant
2007
Untitled, no. 1 of 11, from the series, <i>Extreme Tension</i>
2007
My Hand
Only state
2002
<i>My Hand</i>
2002
Related Works in Other Mediums
Give or Take
2002
Give or Take
2002
Medium: Bronze, silver nitrate patina
Dimensions: overall: 3 1/2 x 23 x 5" (8.9 x 58.4 x 12.7 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Décontractée
1990
Décontractée
1990
Medium: Pink marble and steel
Dimensions: overall: 28 1/2 × 36 × 23" (72.4 × 91.4 × 58.4 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Louise Bourgeois,
Extreme Tension,
New York, Osiris, 2007The 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.