Cat. No. 771, unique variant 6
Les Cinq
- State/Variant:
- Only state, unique variant
- Date:
- 2006
- Alternate Title:
- Plates 1, 2, and 3
- Themes
- Abstraction, Nature
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Paper (5 attached sheets)
- Dimensions:
- plate (a, d, and e): 15 3/8 × 11" (39.1 × 27.9 cm); plate (b): 15 3/8 × 11" (39.1 × 27.9 cm); plate (c): 15 3/8 × 11" (39.1 × 27.9 cm); sheet: 15 1/4 × 56 3/4" (38.7 × 144.1 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (e): "LB" lower right comp.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- This unique variant is one of 13 that incorporates one or more plates from “Look Up!” seen in the States row in the Evolving Composition Diagram below. The plates are numbered according to their positions from top to bottom. Here, the composition is made up of plates 1, 2, and 3.
Unique variants of the “Look Up!” plates are also found in the series of installation sets, “La Rivière Gentille” (1-3). They are organized in rows in the Evolving Composition Diagram below according to their combination of plates. - 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 fully documented because this work is not in MoMA's Collection and could not be examined in person. The plate dimensions are from the impressions of plates 1, 2, and 3 in MoMA's Collection. The overall sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
- Descriptive Title:
- English translation: "The Five"
- Description:
- Soft ground etchings, with watercolor, ink, pencil, and colored pencil additions
- State Changes and Additions:
- Matrices:
This 5-panel composition uses plates 1, 2, and 3 seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
panels (a), (d), and (e): plate 2
panel (b): plate 1
panel (c): plate 3
Only state, unique variant
2006
Look Up! ; La Rivière Gentille ; No. 7 in Nothing to Remember (set 1)
2004-2010
Related Works in the Catalogue
Untitled (Branch with Tall Leaf Cluster), in Les Arbres (3), from the editioned series of portfolios, Les Arbres (1-6)
Only state
2004
Untitled (Branch with Tall Leaf Cluster), in <i>Les Arbres</i> (3), from the editioned series of portfolios, <i>Les Arbres</i> (1-6)
2004
Related Works in Other Mediums
Untitled
2002
Untitled
2002
Medium: Ink and crayon on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 11 3/4 x 9" (29.8 x 22.9 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Abstract Figure
c. 1965
Abstract Figure
c. 1965
Medium: Ink on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 15 1/2 x 9 5/8" (39.4 x 24.4 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Untitled
1947
Untitled
1947
Medium: Ink and charcoal on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 11 1/2 x 7 1/8" (29.2 x 18.1 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Breasted Woman
1949-1950
Breasted Woman
1949-1950
Medium: Painted wood and stainless steel
Dimensions: overall: 54 x 12 x 12" (137.2 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Concentric Growth
c. 1965
Concentric Growth
c. 1965
Medium: Ink on blue paper
Dimensions: sheet: 13 × 9 1/4" (33 × 23.5 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY