Maman

Maman

A bronze edition at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Artist	Louise Bourgeois
Year	1999 (1999)
Type	Sculpture
Material	Stainless steel, bronze, marble
Dimensions	9271 x 8915 x 10236 mm

Not to be confused with Louise Bourgeois' similar sculptures: Spider or Crouching Spider

Maman (1999) is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider, is among the world's largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide (927 x 891 x 1024 cm).^[1] It includes a sac containing 26 marble eggs and its abdomen and thorax are made up of ribbed bronze. The title is the familiar French word for Mother. 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]

Philosophy and meaning

Sac containing marble eggs
At Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft, Zürich, 2011

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.^[3] It alludes to the strength of Bourgeois' mother, with metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture and protection.^[4] Her mother Josephine was a woman who repaired tapestries in her father's textile restoration workshop in Paris.^[3] Bourgeois lost her mother at the age of twenty-one. A few days afterwards, in front of her father who did not seem to take his daughter’s despair seriously, she threw herself into the Bièvre River; he swam to her rescue.^[5]

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.

— Louise Bourgeois^[4]

Permanent locations

Some of these editions in permanent collections often tour on exhibit:

• 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 the mixed reactions of amazement and amusement. The sculpture owned by the Tate Modern is the only one made from stainless steel. ^[6]

• National Gallery of Canada, Canada — The National Gallery of Canada acquired the sculpture in 2005 for 3.2 million dollars. At that time, the price was deemed excessive by some critics, as it took around the third of the annual budget of the gallery.^[7]

• Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain^[8]

• Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan^[9] — On display at the base of Mori Tower, outside the museum.^[10]

• Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, South Korea^[11]

Temporary locations

Tours and featured exhibitions of Maman include:

• 2001: Rockefeller Center Plaza, New York^[1]
• 2001: City Hall, The Hague, The Netherlands^{[citation needed]}
• 2002: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia^[1]
• 2003: Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark^{[citation needed]}
• 2006: Mariakerke, Ostend, Belgium^{[citation needed]}
• 2008: Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France^[12]
• 2008: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France^[13]
• 27 March 2007 - 2 March 2008: Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts^{[citation needed]}
• 18 October 2008 - 25 January 2009: Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy^{[citation needed]}
• 2009: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA^{[citation needed]}
• 2011: Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina^[13]
• Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), São Paulo, Brasil, 2011
• Bundesplatz, Bern, Switzerland, 24 May 2011 - 7 June 2011^[12]
• Bürkliplatz, Zürich, Switzerland, 10 June 2011 - 2 August 2011^[12]
• Place Neuve, Geneva, Switzerland, 3 August 2011 - 28 August 2011
• Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, 3 September 2011 - 8 January 2012^[12]
• Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany, 23 January 2012 - 17 June 2012
• Qatar National Convention Center, Qatar - The Maman sculpture; exhibited from January 20 – June 1, 2012, 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.^[14] The exhibit was organised by the Qatar Museums Authority.^[15]
• Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan, 2012 - 2013
• Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico, 15 November 2013 - 2 March 2014

See also

• Cultural depictions of spiders
• List of artworks by Louise Bourgeois
• Spider (Bourgeois)

Gallery

• 

  Another view from the National Gallery of Canada

• 

  At the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

• 

  The sculpture in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

• 

  A bronze cast at Lake Zürich, Zürich

• 

  Maman at Kunsthalle Hamburg

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maman.

• Maman spider sculpture debuts in Ottawa - CBC Archives (Broadcast: May 10, 2005)
• Video : "They climb it" — Vimeo
• Louise Bourgeois - Maman — National Gallery of Canada (videos)