Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Differentiate

Cat. No. 1263, in 1256

Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Differentiate

State/Variant:
Unique variant
Date:
2009
Series:
Differentiate

Themes
Abstraction
Techniques
Etching
Support:
Paper
Dimensions:
plate (a and e) (each): 55 1/16 × 16 11/16" (139.9 × 42.4 cm); plate (c): 60 5/16 × 27 7/8" (153.2 × 70.8 cm); sheet (approx.): 60 × 130" (152.4 × 330.2 cm)
Signature:
panel (a): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
panel (c): "LB / Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
panel (e): "Louise Bourgeois" lower right margin, pencil.
Publisher
Osiris
Printer
Wingate Studio
Edition:
Unique
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 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 overall mediums and sheet dimensions for the series were provided by the Louise Bourgeois Studio.
Description:
panel (a): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (b): Pencil
panel (c): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (d): Pencil
panel (e): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
Inscription:
panel (a): "pendules" lower middle margin, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (b): "In the morning / you come out / of the bumpy / night" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (d): "you are on the other side / you have the strength / and energy / to remedy" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
State Changes and Additions:
Matrices:
This 5-panel composition is made up of 2 plates that were issued as separate editions. They are noted below and can be seen in Related Works in the Catalogue.

panel (a) and (e): plate from "Pendule"

panel (c): plate from "The Awakening"
Installation Remarks:
This composition is one of 4 that constitute a single work of art. All of the compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

No. 2 of 4, from the series, Differentiate

2009

Unique Variants
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Differentiate

Series

2009

Differentiate

Related Works in the Catalogue

Pendule
The Awakening
Differentiate
Publication Excerpts

Louise Bourgeois,

Differentiate,

New York, Osiris, 2009

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

No. 1:
Differentiate
a story by
Louise Bourgeois
Differentiate
a story
by Louise Bourgeois

No. 2:
In the morning
you come out
of the bumpy
night
you are on the other side
you have the strength
and energy
to remedy

No. 3:
You have the
need to
put things
in order
To tidy up
to collect
to repair

No. 4:
To sort out
to begin to
differentiate