Up and Up!

Cat. No. 823, unique variant 3

Up and Up!

State/Variant:
Only state, unique variant
Date:
2006
Themes
Abstraction, Nature
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
plate (each): 55 3/16 × 9 13/16" (140.2 × 25 cm); sheet: 58 5/8 × 72" (148.9 × 182.9 cm)
Signature:
panels (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
Edition Information:
This is one of 10 unique variants that incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. When the plate is printed 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.

Before settling on the 8 unique variants that use the "Up and Up" plate alone, Bourgeois first added hand additions to 7 impressions of the plate and called them "studies." (Usually in this catalogue, the term "study" describes photocopies and tracings that were used in the process of developing a composition.) She issued two studies as unique variant single panel works. She then combined 5 of these studies into one multi-panel unique variant titled "Up and Up."

She worked with this plate again to make 5 additional unique variants, separate from the initial 7 studies described above.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
"Up and Up" (study 1)
"Up and Up" (study 2)
"Up and Up!" (incorporates studies 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7)
"Each Thing Has Its Place"
Untitled, plates 5 and 6 of 9, from the illustrated book, "Differentiate"
Untitled, plate 4 of 5, from the illustrated book, "Duration and Intensité”
"Prelude to Faith"
"Up and Up" diptych

See Related Works in the Catalogue:
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, "Evening of My Life"
Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, "Inner Truths or Outer Truths"

About the "Up and Up” edition:
Outside the edition of 9, there is 1 known variant impression. It has no hand additions and is signed and inscribed "premiere epreuve" in the artist’s hand. There are also 2 known cancellation proofs of this plate, 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 types 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 published impression in MoMA’s Collection. The sheet dimensions were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
panels (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e): Soft ground etchings, with watercolor, gouache, ink, pencil, and colored pencil additions
Inscription:
panel (a): "Up and Up." lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (b): "Up and Up" lower middle margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (c): "Up and Up" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (d): "Up and Up!" lower middle margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (e): "Up and Up" lower left margin, pencil, artist's hand.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

Up and Up

2006-2008

States
Up and Up
Unique Variants
Up and Up
Up and Up
Up and Up!
Each Thing Has Its Place
Untitled, plates 5 and 6 of 9, from the illustrated book, Differentiate
Untitled, plate 4 of 5, from the illustrated book, Duration and Intensité
Prelude to Faith
Up and Up

Illustrated Book

2007

Differentiate

Illustrated Book

2007

Duration and Intensité

Related Works in the Catalogue

Leaves
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, Evening of My Life
Pendule
Untitled, no. 4 of 4, from the series, Inner Truths or Outer Truths
Look Up!