Cat. No. 1266, in 1258
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage
- State/Variant:
- Unique variant
- Date:
- 2009
- Series:
- Have a Little Courage
- Themes
- Abstraction, Fabric Works
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- panels (a), (c): Fabric
panels (b), (d), (e): Smooth, wove handmade paper - Dimensions:
- plate (a): 60 1/4 × 35 11/16" (153.1 × 90.6 cm); plate (c) and (e) (each): 59 7/8 × 16 3/4" (152.1 × 42.6 cm); sheet: 64 3/4 × 129 1/2" (164.5 × 328.9 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (e): "LB" lower right comp., pencil.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- 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 plate dimensions are from the impressions in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
On both text panels, tan gouache is applied like a correction fluid to cover unwanted marks. - Description:
- panel (a): Soft ground etching, with red gouache additions
panel (b): Pencil, with tan gouache (see Curatorial Remarks)
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with red watercolor additions
panel (d): Pencil, with tan gouache
panel (e): Soft ground etching, with red and white gouache, and blue watercolor additions - Inscription:
- panel (b): "Beheaded / jilted / unprotected" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (d): "slipped / and / could not get up." center sheet, pencil, artist's hand. - State Changes and Additions:
- Matrices:
This 5-panel composition uses 2 plates that were issued as separate editions. They are listed below and can be seen in Related Works in the Catalogue.
panel (a): plate from "The Stretch"
Plate printed twice, once in each orientation.
panels (c) and (e): plate from "Passages"
For panel (c), the plate was lightly inked throughout. - Installation Remarks:
- This composition is one of 4 that constitute a single work of art. All of the compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
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Unique variant
2009
A
B
No. 2 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage
2009
Unique Variants
Published
Not in MoMA's Collection
Unique variant
2009
Not in MoMA's Collection
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series,<i> Have a Little Courage</i>
2009
Series
2009
Published
Not in MoMA's Collection
Have a Little Courage
2009
Not in MoMA's Collection
<i>Have a Little Courage</i>
2009
Related Works in the Catalogue
Published
The Stretch
Only state
2006
<i>The Stretch</i>
2006
Published
Passages
Only state
2006
<i>Passages</i>
2006
Publication Excerpts
Louise Bourgeois,
Have a Little Courage,
New York, Osiris, 2009Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.
No. 1:
Dizzy
Spells
étourdi
No. 2:
Beheaded
jilted
unprotected
slipped
and
could not get up.
No. 3:
when fear
becomes conscious
No. 4:
Watch out
and
have a little
Courage