Sculpture by Louise Bourgeois From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maman (1999) is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture in several locations by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider, is among the world's largest, measuring over 30ft high and over 33ft wide (9.27x8.91x10.24metres).[1] It includes a sac containing 32 marble eggs and its abdomen and thorax are made of rubbed bronze.
The title is the familiar French word for Mother (akin to Mummy or Mommy). The sculpture was created in 1999 by Bourgeois as a part of her inaugural commission of The Unilever Series (2000), in the Turbine Hall at London's Tate Modern.[1] This original was created in steel, with an edition of six subsequent castings in bronze.[2] The Maman at Tate Modern is not always on display.
Bourgeois chose the Modern Art Foundry to cast the sculpture because of its reputation and work.[3]
The sculpture picks up the theme of the arachnid that Bourgeois had first contemplated in a small ink and charcoal drawing in 1947, continuing with her 1996 sculpture Spider.[4] It alludes to the strength of Bourgeois' mother with metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture and protection.[5] Her mother, Josephine, was a woman who repaired tapestries in her father's textile restoration workshop in Paris.[4] When Bourgeois was twenty-one, she lost her mother to an unknown illness. A few days after her mother's passing, in front of her father (who did not seem to take his daughter's despair seriously), Louise threw herself into the Bièvre River; he swam to her rescue.[6]
The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.
Tate Modern, UK – The permanent acquisition of this sculpture in 2008 is considered one of the Tate Modern's historical moments. Maman was first exhibited in the Turbine Hall and later displayed outside the gallery in 2000. It was received with mixed reactions of amazement and amusement. The sculpture owned by the Tate Modern is the only one made from stainless steel.[5] .
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada – The National Gallery of Canada acquired the sculpture in 2005 for 3.2million dollars. The price took around a third of the annual budget of the gallery.[7]
2012 Qatar National Convention Centre, Qatar – The Maman sculpture; exhibited from 20 January – 1 June, at the Qatar National Convention Centre as the centerpiece of the Conscious and Unconscious exhibition; the first solo exhibit of Bourgeois' work to be displayed in the Middle East.[17] The exhibit was organised by the Qatar Museums Authority.[18]
