Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage

Cat. No. 774, unique variant 4, in 1258

Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2009
Series:
Have a Little Courage
Themes
Abstraction, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove handmade paper
Dimensions:
plate (in 2 vertical parts) (overall): 60 1/4 × 31 3/4" (153 × 80.7 cm); sheet: 59 3/4 × 55 3/4" (151.8 × 141.6 cm)
Signature:
panel (b): "LB" right lower sheet, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 5 unique variants that incorporate this plate. They all include extensive hand additions and are listed below:

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"Le Père Déchu"
"Turning Inwards (#1)"
"Le Coeur Est Là (Turning Inwards #2)"
Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, "Have a Little Courage"
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, "The Voice Says Yes"

About the "Turning Inwards" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping varies significantly from impression to impression. (See two examples in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.) Paper type varies slightly as well. There is 1 known variant impression of the only state, outside the edition. There are 2 known cancellation proofs, each with a large “X” drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.
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 impression in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
panel (a): Soft ground etching, with blue and white gouache and watercolor, and pencil additions
panel (b): Pencil
Inscription:
panel (b): "Watch out / and / have a little / courage" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
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

Turning Inwards

2008-2009

States
Turning Inwards
Turning Inwards
Turning Inwards
Unique Variants
Le Père Déchu
Turning Inwards (#1)
Le Coeur Est Là (Turning Inwards #2)
Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, The Voice Says Yes

Series

2009

Have a Little Courage

Series

2009

The Voice Says Yes

Related Works in the Catalogue

My Inner Life
Untitled, no. 4 of 12, from the series, Spirals
The Chain of Events
Abandoned
Le Père et les 3 Fils
Losing It

Related Works in Other Mediums

Inner Ear
Spiral or Summer
Female Portrait
Avenza Revisited II
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

Have a Little Courage,

New York, Osiris, 2009

Bourgeois'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