Reply to Stanley Hayter

Cat. No. 596/I

Reply to Stanley Hayter

State/Variant:
State I of III
Date:
1996
Themes
Abstraction
Techniques
Lithography
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
sheet: 8 11/16 × 11 7/16" (22 × 29 cm)
Signature:
"LB" right lower margin, pencil.
Publisher
unpublished
Printer
SOLO Impression
Edition:
1 known impression of state I
Edition Information:
Proof before the editioning of state III.
Impression:
Not numbered
Background:
Stanley William Hayter founded the print workshop Atelier 17, which he relocated from Paris to New York during WWII. Bourgeois worked there intermittently until 1949, enjoying the company of an array of international artists. Bourgeois found Hayter intimidating as he demonstrated engraving, but remembered feeling useful in the shop because she could facilitate communication with the artists who spoke only French. "Le Cauchemar de Hayter," seen below in Related Works in Other Mediums, is another work that references the printmaker.
Curatorial Remarks:
The paper type and composition size could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person.
Description:
Lithograph
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
The progression of this composition, as seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below, included 8 lithography matrices.

Plate 1: light blue background.

Plate 2: yellow areas.

Plate 3: orange areas.

Plate 4: dark blue areas.

Plate 5: magenta areas.

Plate 6: red half circles.

Plate 7: red diagonal line.

Plate 8: black areas.
Other Remarks:
According to the artist's assistant Jerry Gorovoy, Bourgeois was reminded of Hayter in the 1990s when she met Hayter's daughter. While revisiting some earlier drawings, the artist remembered the difficulties she had with the engraving burin, especially when making long, curved forms like the ones seen here.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Reply to Stanley Hayter

1996

Source

1970

Untitled

Source

1970

Untitled
States
Reply to Stanley Hayter
Reply to Stanley Hayter
Reply to Stanley Hayter

Related Works in the Catalogue

Untitled, no. 26 of 34, from the illustrated book, Ode à l'Oubli
Untitled, no. 22 of 23, from the illustrated book, Ode à la Bièvre
Untitled
Le Cauchemar de Hayter
Fabrication I