Cat. No. 916, unique variant 2, in 1250
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series, Sainte Nitouche
- State/Variant:
- Only state, unique variant
- Date:
- 2009
- Series:
- Sainte Nitouche
- Alternate Title:
- Just Like Me
- Themes
- Abstraction, Body Parts, Figures
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Paper
- Dimensions:
- plate: 59 3/8 × 21 1/2" (150.8 × 54.6 cm); sheet (approx.): 60 × 93" (152.4 × 236.2 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (c): "Louise Bourgeois" lower center sheet, pencil.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- This is one of 2 unique variants outside the edition that incorporate this plate. Both are part of series and are seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
About the "Just Like Me" edition:
Within the edition, sheet size varies from impression to impression. There is 1 known impression of the only state, outside the edition. It is inscribed "first proof" in the lower left composition by the artist, and signed "Louise Bourgeois" in the lower right composition, both in pencil. 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 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.
A "sainte nitouche" is a goody two-shoes. - Description:
- panel (a): Pencil
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (c): Pencil - Inscription:
- panel (a): "viens le soir descend / et leur heure est charmeuse / viens toi si frileuse / la nuit avancée en / manteau descend / puis l'air est si doux / si plein de promesses / ou sent la caresse / des mots d'amour / qu'en écoute à genoux" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (c): "What do you / think / of / me" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand. - Installation Remarks:
- This composition is one of 3 that constitute a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
Only state, unique variant
2009
Just Like Me
2007-2009
Only state
2007
<i>Just Like Me</i>
2007
Only state, unique variant
2007
Untitled, no. 1 of 5, from the series, <i>When Did This Happen?</i>
2007
Only state, unique variant
2009
Untitled, no. 3 of 3, from the series,<i> Sainte Nitouche</i>
2009
Series
2007
When Did This Happen?
2007
<i>When Did This Happen?</i>
2007
Series
2009
Sainte Nitouche
2009
<i>Sainte Nitouche</i>
2009
Related Works in the Catalogue
The Twist
Only state
2007
<i>The Twist</i>
2007
La Nausée, plate 1 of 7, from the portfolio, La Réparation
State III of III
2003
<i>La Nausée</i>, plate 1 of 7, from the portfolio,<i> La Réparation</i>
2003
La Nausée, plate 22 of 24, from the series, Self Portrait
Only state
2009
<i>La Nausée</i>, plate 22 of 24, from the series,<i> Self Portrait</i>
2009
Abandoned
Only state, variant
2007
<i>Abandoned</i>
2007
Related Works in Other Mediums
Untitled
2002
Untitled
2002
Medium: Ink, pencil, and correction fluid on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 11 x 8 1/2" (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Untitled
2002
Untitled
2002
Medium: Ink and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 9 1/2 x 8" (24.1 x 20.3 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
The Fish (Marinated) Was Delicious
1998
The Fish (Marinated) Was Delicious
1998
Medium: Ink and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 9 5/8 × 8" (24.4 × 20.3 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Untitled
1998
Untitled
1998
Medium: Ink and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 11 1/8 × 9" (28.3 × 22.9 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Untitled (recto)
1997
Untitled (recto)
1997
Medium: Ink and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 11 1/2 × 9" (29.2 × 22.9 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Louise Bourgeois,
Sainte Nitouche,
New York, Osiris, 2009Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.
No. 1:
Saint
Nitouche
une histoire
de
Louise
Bourgeois
No. 2:
What you
look like
what you wear
ma
vie
vie
vie
vie
secrète
la vie secrète
I am a consumer
and
a lover
No. 3:
viens le soir descend
et leur heure est charmeuse
viens toi si frileuse
la nuit avancée en
manteau descend
puis l'air est si doux
si plein de promesses
ou sent la caresse
des mots d'amour
qu'en écoute à genoux
What do you
think
of
me
French to English translations by Richard Sieburth and Françoise Gramet.
No. 1:
Goodie
Two Shoes
a story
by
Louise
Bourgeois
No. 2:
What you
look like
what you wear
my
life
life
life
life
secret
the secret life
I am a consumer
and
a lover
No. 3:
come, night is falling,
the hour is enticing
come, fear not the cold,
the falling night
like a cloak is spreading
the air is so mild
so full of promises
one feels the caress
of words of love
heard on bended knee
What do you
think
of
me