Unaware and Aware

Cat. No. 545.2

Unaware and Aware

State/Variant:
Version 2 of 2, only state
Date:
1997-2003
Themes
Body Parts, Faces & Portaits, Figures
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper, mounted on paper
Dimensions:
plate (trimmed; approx.): 23 5/8 × 17 9/16" (60 × 44.6 cm); mount: 35 × 24" (88.9 × 61 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" right lower margin, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
7; plus an edition of 3 with red hand additions, and an edition of 3 with black hand additions, and an illustrated book edition of 12
Edition Information:
This composition was issued as a published edition once at version 1, state VI, and four times at version 2, only state.

In the edition of 7 impressions of version 2 with hand additions, each is designated by the artist as a "study." (Usually in this catalogue, the term “study” describes photocopies and tracings that were used in the process of developing a composition.)

The second and third editions of version 2 were printed in black and red ink, respectively. Each was an edition of 3 impressions and include subtle hand additions.

Also, a separate edition of this composition was published in an illustrated book titled, "One's Sleep." The illustrated book includes 18 plates with hand additions, in all. (See Evolving Composition Diagram.)
Impression:
"Study 5/7"
Background:
Bourgeois first took up this subject as a print in honor of the birth of Peter Blum's daughter, Anna, in 1990. Peter Blum was a publisher of Bourgeois's prints and also an art dealer who showed her work at his gallery. The artist gave an inscribed impression of version 1, state VI to the Blum family as a gift. The Blums reproduced the impression on Anna's birth annoucement, a card measuring 7 3/4 x 5 1/2" closed.

Version 1, state VI (without chine collé) was published in 1994 to benefit The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Curatorial Remarks:
The sheet for this composition has been trimmed down to the plate mark and mounted on a board.

The plate dimensions and paper type could not be documented because this impression is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impressions in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
Soft ground etching, with watercolor, gouache, and conté additons
State Changes and Additions:
Changes from version 1: composition mirrored, enlarged, and partially transferred to a new plate, in soft ground etching.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Self Portrait and Unaware and Aware

1990-2003

Source

recto: 1940

Untitled (recto)

Source

1940

Untitled
First Version
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Self Portrait
Second Version
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware
Unaware and Aware, plate 11 of 18, from the illustrated book, One's Sleep (1)
Unaware and Aware, plate 11 of 18, from the illustrated book, One's Sleep (3)

Illustrated Book

2003

One's Sleep

Related Works in the Catalogue

Self Portrait
Michel, plate 7 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait
Untitled, plate 14 of 14, from the portfolio, Autobiographical Series
Self Portrait
Bébé Joufflu
The Smile
Untitled, no. 1 of 12, from the portfolio, Anatomy
The Son Is Father to the Man
Caryatid
Untitled
Janus
Spiraling Eyes

Related Works in Other Mediums

The Conversation
I Redo (interior component), from the 3-part installation, I Do, I Undo, I Redo
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
The Conversation