La Maladie de l'Amour

Cat. No. 807

La Maladie de l'Amour

State/Variant:
Only state
Date:
2008
Themes
Abstraction, Body Parts, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper (2 sheets)
Dimensions:
plate (a and b) (each): 60 1/4 × 15 13/16" (153 × 40.2 cm); sheet (a): 59 3/8 × 16" (150.8 × 40.6 cm); sheet (b): 59 7/8 × 15 7/8" (152.1 × 40.3 cm) (plate dimensions reflect full plate size; these are partial printings)
Signature:
panel (b): "Louise / Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
Edition:
3
Edition Information:
This edition is irregular in that "1/3" consists of a single impression, while “2/3” and “3/3” are diptychs. Selective wiping varies significantly throughout the edition. There is 1 known variant impression of the only state, outside the edition.

Outside the edition there are 6 unique variants that incorporate this plate. They all include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate. 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, no. 3 of 5, from the series, "The Vocabulary of Seduction"
"La Maladie de l'Amour"
"La Maladie de l'Amour (#2)"
"La Maladie de l'Amour (#3)"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
Untitled, no. 2 of 5, from the series, "The Vocabulary of Seduction"
Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, "What Why When Where Who and How!!"
Impression:
"3/3" panel (a) lower left comp., pencil, artist's hand.
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, color of the hand additions, and verso inscriptions could not be fully 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 sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "Disease of Love"
Description:
Soft ground etching, with selective wiping and pencil additions
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

La Maladie de l'Amour

2007-2008

States
La Maladie de l'Amour
La Maladie de l'Amour
La Maladie de l'Amour
La Maladie de l'Amour
Unique Variants
Untitled, no. 3 of 5, from the series, The Vocabulary of Seduction
La Maladie de l'Amour
La Maladie de l'Amour (#2)
La Maladie de l'Amour (#3)

Series

2007

The Vocabulary of Seduction

Related Works in the Catalogue

Untitled, no. 2 of 5, from the series, The Vocabulary of Seduction
Progression
Untitled, no. 11 of 12, from the portfolio, Anatomy
Untitled, no. 12 of 12, from the portfolio, Anatomy
Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, What Why When Where Who and How!!
The Nest

Related Works in Other Mediums

Sleeping Figure
Fillette
Labyrinthine Tower
Le Petit Object VI