Laisse Tomber
Louise Bourgeois
American, born France. 1911–2010
2005
A drypoint and engraving in which Louise Bourgeois reduces the idea of letting go to a repeated zigzag-arrow gesture, turning an instruction into a tense, bodily act on paper.
A series of diagonal, arrow‑headed zigzags recede toward the upper right, their dark outlines filled with narrow red hatching and set against a softly grainy, luminous ground that makes the marks feel both precise and fragile.
As a late print, it demonstrates how Bourgeois translated sculptural and autobiographical emotion into spare graphic marks, expanding printmaking’s capacity to convey memory, tension, and psychological release.
Medium
Drypoint and engraving
Dimensions
plate: 8 7/16 x 10 13/16" (21.5 x 27.5 cm); sheet: 14 7/16 x 17 1/8" (36.6 x 43.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the artist
Accession
1516.2012
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
