The Satisfaction of a Job Well Done

Cat. No. 812, unique variant 1

The Satisfaction of a Job Well Done

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2006
Alternate Title:
Let My Children Come
Themes
Abstraction, Figures
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
plate: 55 5/16 × 16 1/4" (140.5 × 41.3 cm); sheet: 59 3/4 × 40" (151.8 × 101.6 cm)
Signature:
panel (b): "LB" lower right sheet, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 6 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. 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:
"The Satisfaction of a Job Well Done"
"I Love You, You Love Me"
"Let My Children Come"
"Reconciliation"

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, "I Want to Talk About Magic"
Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the series, "What Why When Where Who and How!!"

About the "Let My Children Come" edition:
There are variations within the edition of 19. On most impressions, the rectangular forms in the lower center composition are printed in blue. However, the rectangular forms are printed in red on the following impressions: 2/19, 12/19, 15/19, and 18/19. Impression 13/19 could not be examined in person; the color is unknown. Selective wiping varies slightly throughout 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 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 an impression in MoMA's Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
panel (a): Soft ground etching, with watercolor, gouache, pencil, and colored pencil additions
panel (b): Pencil
Inscription:
panel (b): "The satisfaction / of a job / well done / is the / perfect / pacifier / pacifier / pacifier / pacifier / pacifier" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Let My Children Come

2006-2007

States
Let My Children Come
Let My Children Come
Let My Children Come
Unique Variants
The Satisfaction of a Job Well Done
I Love You, You Love Me
Let My Children Come
Reconciliation

Related Works in the Catalogue

Untitled, no. 1 of 4, from the series, What Why When Where Who and How!!
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, I Want To Talk About Magic
The Pacifiers

Related Works in Other Mediums

Untitled (recto)
Untitled
Take It Easy