Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series, What Hurts

Cat. No. 690, unique variant 1, in 1260

Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series, What Hurts

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2007
Series:
What Hurts
Themes
Abstraction, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Smooth, wove handmade paper (4 attached sheets)
Dimensions:
plate (b and c) (in 2 vertical parts) (overall) (each): 58 7/8 × 35 9/16" (149.5 × 90.3 cm); sheet: 59 5/8 × 132 1/4" (151.4 × 335.9 cm)
Signature:
panel (c): "LB" right lower sheet, pencil.
panel (d): "LB" right lower sheet, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 11 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. These all include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with other plates, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series, "What Hurts"
“The Unfolding”
“The Unfolding (#2)”
“The Unfolding (#3)”
“The Unfolding (#4)”
Untitled, no. 5 of 6, from the series, "I Give Everything Away”

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
“À Baudelaire (#1)”
"Love Is As Big As the Sky"
Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, "Have a Little Courage"
“À Baudelaire (#9): The Impossible”
“The Geometry of Desire (#1)”

About the "The Unfolding" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping is consistent from impression to impression. Three impressions (2/9, 3/9, and 4/9) have proofing of the "À Baudelaire" plate on the verso.
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): Pencil
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with red and blue gouache and waterolor, and pencil additions
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with red gouache and watercolor additions
panel (d): Pencil
Inscription:
panel (a): "Distrust / tears / anger / withdrawl" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (d): "Cry / Baby / The wounded lion" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Installation Remarks:
This composition is one of 3 that constitute a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

The Unfolding

2007-2010

States
The Unfolding
Unique Variants
Untitled, no. 2 of 2, from the series, What Hurts
The Unfolding
The Unfolding (#2)
The Unfolding (#3)
The Unfolding (#4)
Untitled, no. 5 of 6, from the series, I Give Everything Away

Series

2010

I Give Everything Away

Series

2007

What Hurts

Related Works in the Catalogue

À Baudelaire (#9): The Impossible
À Baudelaire (#1)
Turning Inwards
À Baudelaire
Le Père et les 3 Fils
Tourbillon
Untitled, no. 3 of 4, from the series, Have a Little Courage
The Geometry of Desire (#1)
Les Fleurs
Love Is As Big As The Sky

Related Works in Other Mediums

3 Graces
Untitled
Forêt (Night Garden)
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

What Hurts,

New York, Osiris, 2007

Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.

No. 1:
to be hurt
or
the fear to be hurt

what hurts?
to be abandonned [sic]
to be criticized
to be attacked
to be asked too much
to be used
to be refused

to be found out
to fail
to be discouraged
to be ignored
to be laughed at

No. 2:
Distrust
tears
anger
withdrawl

Cry
Baby
The wounded lion