Cat. No. 767, unique variant 2
La Famille
- State/Variant:
- Unique variant
- Date:
- 2008
- Themes
- Abstraction, Motherhood & Family
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Paper (8 attached sheets)
- Dimensions:
- plate (each): 55 5/8 × 16 13/16" (141.3 × 42.7 cm); sheet: 60 1/4 × 148" (153 × 375.9 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (b): "Louise Bourgeois" lower left margin, pencil.
panel (e): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
panel (g): "Louise Bourgeois" lower left margin, pencil.
panel (h): "LB" lower right sheet, pencil. - Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- This is one of 3 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with another plate in a multi-panel work. When the plate is used alone, the work is included in the Evolving Composition Diagram. When it is printed with another plate, it is included in Related Works in the Catalogue.
See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"La Famille (#1)"
"La Famille"
See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"You Touched Me!"
About the "La Famille" edition:
The artist's inscriptions on the proofs before the edition indicate there were once 4 states of this composition. According to the publisher Ben Shiff of Osiris, New York, the only impression of state III was destroyed by the artist. The progression of this composition was thus determined by what is found on the existing prints, and state IV is now state III.
Selective wiping varies from impression to impression.
There is 1 known impression of state III, outside the edition. It is signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right margin and inscribed "4th state" in the lower left margin by the artist, both in pencil. - 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 color of the hand additions and paper type could not be documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impression in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
The hand additions obscure the etching, making it difficult to determine if these are impressions of state I, II, or III. - Descriptive Title:
- English translation: "The Family"
- Description:
- panel (a): Pencil
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with goauche, waterolor, ink, and pencil additions
panel (c): Pencil
panel (d): Pencil
panel (e): Soft ground etching, with goauche, waterolor, ink, and pencil additions
panel (f): Pencil
panel (g): Soft ground etching, with gouache, watercolor, ink and pencil additions
panel (h): Pencil - Inscription:
- panel (a): "la / famille" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (b): "la famille" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (c): "I / thou / him / her / we / you / they" center left sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (d): "moi / toi / lui / elle / nous / vous / ils / elles" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (e): "la famille" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (f): "who / what / where / when / why / therefore / how" sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (g): "la famille" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (h): "la / place / dans / ma / maison / la / maison" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
Unique variant
2008
La Famille
2005-2008
State I of III
2005
<i>La Famille</i>
2005
State II of III
2005
<i>La Famille</i>
2005
State III of III
2006
<i>La Famille</i>
2006
Unique variant
2006
<i>La Famille (#1)</i>
2006
Unique variant
2008
<i>La Famille</i>
2008
Related Works in the Catalogue
You Touched Me!
Unique variant
2007
<i>You Touched Me!</i>
2007
Les Fleurs
Only state
2007
<i>Les Fleurs</i>
2007
Famille
State V of V
1947-1949
<i>Famille</i>
1947-1949
Ma Famille
Only state
2009
<i>Ma Famille</i>
2009
Le Père et les 3 Fils
Only state, unique variant
2006
<i>Le Père et les 3 Fils</i>
2006
Paris Review
State VIII of VIII
1994
<i>Paris Review</i>
1994
Untitled, plate 15 of 15, from the series, Nature Study
State I of II, variant
2009
Untitled, plate 15 of 15, from the series,<i> Nature Study</i>
2009
Accumulations
State II of III
2006
<i>Accumulations</i>
2006
Related Works in Other Mediums
Untitled
1951
Untitled
1951
Medium: Ink and charcoal on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 12 1/4 x 6" (31.1 x 15.2 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Eye to Eye
1970
Eye to Eye
1970
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: overall: 31 1/2 x 29 7/8 x 29 7/8" (80 x 75.9 x 75.9 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Untitled
2006
Untitled
2006
Medium: Watercolor and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 59 3/4 × 20 1/4" (151.8 × 51.4 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Untitled
2006
Untitled
2006
Medium: Watercolor, charcoal, and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 60 × 17" (152.4 × 43.2 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Spring
1953
Spring
1953
Medium: Ink on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 22 × 15" (55.9 × 38.1 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY