C'est Si Bon!!

Cat. No. 1009

C'est Si Bon!!

State/Variant:
Only state
Date:
2006
Themes
Music, Words
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Music paper; staves drawn in pencil
Dimensions:
sheet: 11 1/2 × 31 7/8" (29.2 × 81 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
26; although numbering indicates 27 (see Edition Information)
Edition Information:
The exclamation points seen on this composition are hand additions that vary across the edition. For comparison, see the other published impression in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.

Although each impression is numbered out of 27, there are only a total of 26 impressions in the edition, as impression 13/27 was never made.

There are two proofs before the editioning of the only state, one of which is seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. The other known proof is signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right comp. and inscribed "first proof" in the lower left comp. by the artist, both in pencil. In the lower right comp. of this impression, the name "Jean Sablon" is inked in red (see Curatorial Remarks). It was not available for illustration here.
Impression:
"1/27" lower left comp., pencil, artist's hand.
Background:
This composition originates from the drawing series "Paris Toujour Paris" seen in Related Works in Other Mediums below. There are twelve sets of "Paris Toujour Paris." Each set contains ten handwritten phrases and one drawing, all on music paper with staves drawn in pencil. The phrases vary slightly, but are mostly consistent from set to set. Bourgeois considered turning each phrase into a print edition. She proofed nine compositions in total, but only two were editioned: "C'est Si Bon" and "Paris Toujours." All are seen in Related Works in the Catalogue below.
Curatorial Remarks:
In the lower right composition, under the artist's signature, the name "Jean Sablon" was etched but not inked, creating an effect similar to blind embossing. In one of the proofs before the edition, the name is inked in red. The name does not seem to be inked throughout the edition.

Jean Sablon was a French singer known for singing "C'est si bon," among other popular French songs.

In 2011, Brigitte Cornand, a French filmmaker who worked closely with Bourgeois in the last years of her life, authored an illustrated memoir about her friendship with the artist. In it Cornand describes listening to a Jean Sablon song with Bourgeois and Paulo Herkenhoff, the Brazilian curator and critic with whom the artist had a longstanding friendship and professional relationship. While listening and singing along to the song, Bourgeois confessed that her husband, Robert Goldwater, used to sing it to her in the early days of their romance. (Cornand, Brigitte. "Grabigouji: À Louise Bourgeois, mon amie." Paris: Dilecta, 2011, p. 24.)

The plate dimensions and paper type could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Descriptive Title:
English translation: "It's So Good!!"
Description:
Soft ground etching, with red pencil additions
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

C'est Si Bon!!

2006

States
C'est Si Bon!!
C'est Si Bon!!
C'est Si Bon!!

Related Works in the Catalogue

Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu, Que le Silence Est Beau
Premier Amour!!
La Mairie de Saint Sulpice Paris
Rue Saint Benoit
L'École du Louvre
Paris Toujours
77 Rue Daguerre
C'est la Chanson des Rues
Paris Toujours Paris
Pink Days

Related Works in Other Mediums

Paris Toujours Paris