Bourgeois, Louise

Art contemporain (lots 143 à 184)

Bourgeois, Louise

The Puritan.

New York, Osiris Editions & The Limited Editions Club, 1990.

Grand in-folio (666 x 505 mm). Reliure souple en papier artisanal de l'éditeur. Emboîtage toilé de l'éditeur.

Très bel état, comme neuf.

Texte de Louise Bourgeois.

8 planches gravées de Louise Bourgeois, imprimées sur papier de Japon Gampi.

Un des 70 exemplaires (en fait 63), celui-ci l'un des 38 sans rehauts.

Signé à la justification par Louise Bourgeois.

Quand, en 1988, l'éditeur proposa à Louise Bourgeois de publier un livre illustré, l'artiste choisit un texte écrit quarante ans plus tôt, en 1947, consacré à Alfred H. Barr Jr., l'un des fondateurs du MOMA. Pour l'illustration, elle adapta une série de dessins sur des papiers de couleurs en mêlant différentes techniques, crayon, gouache et encres de couleurs. Les planches furent imprimées sur papier de Chine, contrecollé.

La page de justification donne des informations fautives, la page ayant été tirée avant les estampes : seuls 63 exemplaires furent imprimés, selon D. Wye et C. Smith.

"With 'the puritan' I analyzed an episode forty years after it happened. I could see things from a distance... I put it on a grid. Geometry was a tool to understanding... it was a pleasure... there was order. Instead of feeling a person drowning, I considered the situation objectively, scientifically, not emotionally. I was interested not in anxiety, but in perspective, in seeing things from different points of view. Looking and seeing... you look as you intend to look... you see what you can.

There is Euclidean geometry, but there are also a number of other geometries so you can have a way out from the rigidity of the Euclidean towards freedom. The Euclidean is comforting because nothing can go wrong... but it is not the geometry of pleasure. To survive you must have different routines... different geometries. But geometry is a tool... only a tool. It is a means, not an end.

All these plates are different. These are optical illusions... all have more than one meaning. You have one reality and I have another reality. How much liberty will the geometry take... how much will you take? What are the limits before it snaps? There is always the fear of losing consciousness of one's limits.... But the optical illusions are comforting... they have a measure of secrecy... people don't know what you are talking about. They force you to adjust your vision. You can not be so rigid... you must adjust to the picture" (cité par D. Wye et C. Smith, The Prints of Louise Bourgeois, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 191, repris en ligne dans Louis Bourgeois, the Complete Prints & Books).