Cat. No. 1125, in 1110
Untitled, plate 17 of 17, from the illustrated book, Hang On
- State/Variant:
- Only state
- Date:
- 2004
- Illustrated Book:
- Hang On
- Alternate Title:
- Femme Diagonale
- Themes
- Abstraction, Nature
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Handmade Dieu Donné paper
- Dimensions:
- plate (in 4 parts) (overall): 26 9/16 × 16 1/16" (67.5 × 40.8 cm); sheet: 33 × 54" (83.8 × 137.2 cm)
- Signature:
- "LB" lower right comp., pencil.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- 9 (see Edition Information)
- Edition Information:
- This composition is comprised of four plates arranged in a grid. "Femme Diagonale" and "Hang On" use all four plates, while the untitled compositions only use the top left plate, printed once or twice. When all four plates are used, soft ground etching is only in three of the plates. The top right rectangle is a print of a slightly distressed plate.
About the "Hang On" illustrated book edition:
Of the announced edition of 9 unbound and 12 bound, only 9 unbound examples were realized.
There are varying hand additions across the edition of illustrated books. Impression number 5/9 was also available for examination by MoMA cataloguers, but was not available for reproduction. In that example, plate 17 has chine collé, and blue watercolor wash, red crayon, and pencil additions.
About the "Femme Diagonale" edition:
Bourgeois and the publisher designated each impression as a study. (Usually in this catalogue, the term study describes photocopies and tracings that were used in the process of developing a composition.) There are varying hand additions across the edition.
About the untitled editions:
The top left plate from the full composition was used for three untitled editions. The edition of 1 has black hand additions. The edition of 3 has red hand additions. There is also an edition of 3 diptychs with red and blue hand additions. - Impression:
- "set #1" verso, artist's hand.
- Background:
- The text in "Hang On" is from notebooks and loose sheets written in the 1960s, combined with spontaneous phrases written at the time of publication.
- Curatorial Remarks:
- The hand additions, paper type, and impression number could not be fully documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person.
- Description:
- Soft ground etching, with watercolor, colored pencil, and pencil additions
- Pagination:
- Page 17 of 17.
Only state
2004
Untitled, plate 17 of 17, from the illustrated book, Hang On ; Femme Diagonale ...
2004-2005
Only state
2004
Untitled, plate 17 of 17, from the illustrated book,<i> Hang On</i>
2004
Only state
2005
<i>Femme Diagonale</i>
2005
Only state
2005
Untitled
2005
Only state
2005
Untitled
2005
Only state
2005
Untitled
2005
Only state
2005
Untitled
2005
Only state
2005
Untitled
2005
Illustrated Book
2004
Hang On
2004
<i>Hang On</i>
2004
Related Works in the Catalogue
Topiary
State III of III
2005
<i>Topiary</i>
2005
Untitled
Only state
2002
Untitled
2002
Related Works in Other Mediums
Femme Maison
1945-1947
Femme Maison
1945-1947
Medium: Oil and ink on linen
Dimensions: canvas: 36 x 14" (91.4 x 35.6 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Louise Bourgeois,
Hang On,
New York, Osiris, 2004Bourgeois's entire text for this volume appears on the pages cited below.
Page 1:
I want to say
I want to tell
I want to see
I want to learn
I want to know
Page 2:
I want to control
I want to hold
I want to feel
I want to remember
Page 3:
I want to go
I want to want
I want to find
I want to finish
I want to forget
Page 4:
I want to be good
I want to be better
I want to do it
I want to show
I want to outdo
I want to top it
I want to accomplish mastery
Page 5:
I want the means to get
I want the tools
I want omnipotence
I want to manipulate
I want to be an acrobat
Page 6:
I want to be healthy
I want to be strong
I want to be clever
I want to please
I want to be good
Page 7:
I want it now
I want it this minute
I want to make it appear
as a fairy with a magic wand
I say there and there it is
Page 8:
I want to go everywhere
I want to turn around the table
I want to turn around people
I want to turn people around
To understand them
To anticipate them
To fool them
Page 9:
I want them to like
me and tell me
that I am ok
I want to be noticed
I want to be given
I want to be loved
Page 10:
I want to be right
I want to prove
I want to survive
I want to be free
I want to please
Page 11:
I want to avoid
death, destruction, guilt
Page 12:
I want to escape
I have to escape
I do not want to look
I have to find a diversion
a substitute
Page 13:
I want to look
around and see
then I want to go
back to my lair
and close my door
and then I want to get out
again and look at
everything
Page 14:
But I know that
I cannot see
I cannot learn
I can never know
I am not supposed to go
It is bad to want
I never find
I will not finish
I cannot forget
Page 15:
I cannot control
I cannot hold
I may not feel
I am unable to remember
Page 16:
The voice of reason and experience
The real world always says no
To be rich is not to want beyond my means
To be satisfied – to be wise
To be satisfied with what I have
Page 17:
Contemplate a finished and concentric world like a rose