Cat. No. 820, unique variant 8, in 1251
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, Start Something!!
- State/Variant:
- Only state, unique variant
- Date:
- 2008
- Series:
- Start Something!!
- Alternate Title:
- Les Fleurs (The Flowers)
- Themes
- Abstraction, Nature
- Techniques
- Etching
- Support:
- Paper
- Dimensions:
- plate (in 2 vertical parts) (overall): 59 5/8 × 35 1/4" (151.4 × 89.6 cm); sheet (approx.): 59 3/4 × 107" (151.8 × 271.8 cm)
- Signature:
- panel (c): "LB" lower right sheet.
- Publisher
- Osiris
- Printer
- Wingate Studio
- Edition:
- Unique
- Edition Information:
- This is one of 10 unique variants outside the edition to incorporate this plate, printed alone or in combination with other plates in multi-panel works. All include extensive hand additions and sometimes partial inking of the plate. 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:
"Les Fleurs (#1)"
"Les Fleurs (#2)"
"Les Fleurs (#3)"
"Les Fleurs (#4)"
"Les Fleurs (#5)"
"Les Fleurs (#6)"
"I Am Still Growing (#1)"
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series, "Start Something!!"
See Related Works in the Catalogue:
"The Geometry of Pleasure (#1)"
"The Geometry of Pleasure (#2)"
About the "Les Fleurs" edition:
Within the edition, selective wiping, sheet size, and orientation vary from impression to impression. Impression nos. 1/9, 2/9, 4/9, 6/9, and 7/9 are oriented in the same direction as the impression of the only state, outside the edition, without hand additions. Impression nos. 3/9, 5/9, 8/9, and 9/9 are oriented in the same direction as the impression of the only state, outside the edition, with hand additions. Both are seen in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
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.
- Description:
- panel (a): Pencil
panel (b): Soft ground etching, with hand additions
panel (c): Pencil - Inscription:
- panel (a): "I offer / I give / I propose / I perform / I show off / I have a solution" center sheet, pencil, artist's hand.
panel (c): "optimism." center sheet, pencil, artist's hand. - Installation Remarks:
- This composition is one of 4 that constitute a single work of art. All of these compositions are to be exhibited together in the indicated sequence.
Only state, unique variant
2008
Les Fleurs
2007-2008
Only state, variant
2007
<i>Les Fleurs</i>
2007
Only state, variant
2007
<i>Les Fleurs</i>
2007
Only state
2007
<i>Les Fleurs</i>
2007
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Les Fleurs (#1)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Les Fleurs (#2)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Les Fleurs (#3)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Les Fleurs (#4)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Les Fleurs (#5)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Les Fleurs (#6)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>I Am Still Growing!!! (#1)</i>
2008
Only state, unique variant
2008
Untitled, no. 2 of 4, from the series,<i> Start Something!!</i>
2008
Series
2008
Start Something!!
2008
<i>Start Something!!</i>
2008
Related Works in the Catalogue
The Geometry of Pleasure (#2)
Unique variant
2008
<i>The Geometry of Pleasure (#2)</i>
2008
Printemps
Only state, unique variant
2008
<i>Printemps</i>
2008
À Baudelaire
Only state
2008
<i>À Baudelaire</i>
2008
I Do
Only state
2010
<i>I Do</i>
2010
Rose
Only state
2002
<i>Rose</i>
2002
The Geometry of Pleasure (#1)
Unique variant
2008
<i>The Geometry of Pleasure (#1)</i>
2008
Les Fleurs
Version 2 of 2, only state
2010
<i>Les Fleurs</i>
2010
Related Works in Other Mediums
Untitled
1949
Untitled
1949
Medium: Ink and pencil on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 19 1/2 x 12 1/2" (49.5 x 31.8 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Les Fleurs
2009
Les Fleurs
2009
Medium: Gouache on paper
Dimensions: sheet: 23 1/2 × 18" (59.7 × 45.7 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Les Fleurs
2009
Les Fleurs
2009
Medium: Series of 12 drawings in gouache on paper
Dimensions: sheet (each): 23 1/2 × 18" (59.7 × 45.7 cm)
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY
Louise Bourgeois,
Start Something!!,
New York, Osiris, 2008Bourgeois's entire text for this series appears on the panels cited below.
No. 1:
under anxiety
I lose my identité.
I talk
I talk
I talk
I talk
and
talk.
No. 2:
I offer
I give
I propose
I perform
I show off
I have a solution
optimism.
No. 3:
Nothing doing
doing nothing
rejecting at every turn
break down!
I leave
I hide
I shut up
I look the other way
No. 4:
I look
I serve
I initiate
I start a book
a picture
a sculpture