Cat. No. 809, unique variant 3, in 918
Untitled, no. 2 of 5, from the series, When Did This Happen?
- State/Variant:
- Only state, unique variant
- Date:
- 2007
- Series:
- When Did This Happen?
- Alternate Title:
- Incognito
- Themes
- Abstraction
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Paper (3 attached sheets)
- Dimensions:
- plate (b): 59 1/8 × 19 9/16" (150.1 × 49.7 cm); sheet (overall): 60 × 83" (152.4 × 210.8 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (b): "LB" lower right comp., pencil.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- This is one of 8 unique variants outside the edition that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with other plates, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.
See Evolving Composition Diagram:
Untitled, plate 8 of 9, from the illustrated book, "Differentiate"
"A Mirror of You"
Untitled, no. 2 of 5, from the series, "When Did This Happen?"
See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"Dizzy Spells"
Untitled, no. 2 of 3, from the series, "This Need"
"Time"
"Don't Swallow Me!"
"Euphoria"
About the "Incognito" edition:
Within the edition, sheet size varies slightly from impression to impression. There is 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition. It is inscribed "first proof" in the lower left composition by the artist, and signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right composition, both in pencil.
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 mediums of the hand additions were not specified by the Louise Bourgeois Studio. The plate dimensions are from the impression of "Incognito" in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio. The paper type could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person.
- Description:
- panel (a): Pencil
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (c): Pencil - Installation Remarks:
- This panel is one of 5 which constitute a single work of art. All of these panels are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
Only state, unique variant
2007
Incognito
2007
Only state
2007
<i>Incognito</i>
2007
Only state, unique variant
2007
Untitled, plate 8 of 9, from the illustrated book,<i> Differentiate</i>
2007
Only state, unique variant
2007
<i>A Mirror of You</i>
2007
Only state, unique variant
2007
Untitled, no. 2 of 5, from the series, <i>When Did This Happen?</i>
2007
Illustrated Book
2007
Differentiate
2007
<i>Differentiate</i>
2007
Series
2007
When Did This Happen?
2007
<i>When Did This Happen?</i>
2007
Related Works in the Catalogue
Euphoria
Unique variant
2008
<i>Euphoria</i>
2008
Time
Unique variant
2007
<i>Time</i>
2007
Dizzy Spells
Unique variant
2007
<i>Dizzy Spells</i>
2007
Untitled, no. 2 of 3, from the series, This Need
Unique variant
2007
Untitled, no. 2 of 3, from the series,<i> This Need</i>
2007
Don't Swallow Me!
Unique variant
2008
<i>Don't Swallow Me!</i>
2008
The Prey of an Anxiety
Only state
2007
<i>The Prey of an Anxiety</i>
2007
Louise Bourgeois,
When Did This Happen?,
New York, Osiris, 2007Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.
No. 1:
Struck by utter
Revulsion
(I do nothing)
paralyzed.
immobilized by the horror
No. 2:
thunder struck
Freeze on the spot
go totally vague
No. 3:
when did this happen?
when I saw them coupling
separate the two snails
my memory is moth eaten
full of holes
No. 4:
something atrocious must have
happened that I don't
understand
and makes me masochistic
No. 5:
when terror pounces
grips me
I create an image