To the left there is another fragment of fabric that depicts a crown with curly hair underneath, an owl flying upwards, and a blue sky. [19] Christie's was then estimated to sell the sculpture for anywhere up to $35 million at a contemporary art sale in New York in May 2019.[20]. 4th St and Constitution Ave NW Louise Bourgeois created the first of her darkly compelling spider sculptures in the mid-1990s, when she was in her eighties.
One scholar in particular, Mieke Bal, even went so far as to posit that the figure of the spider is a direct metaphor for her mother's care and protection with regard to family life.
Taking the form of a large spider crawling up a wall, Spider I is fastened to the surface with two bolts that are secured through rings situated on the sculpture’s front legs. Inside the cage there is a singular chair with a tapestry on it. Partly a reference to her mother, partly to herself, spiders for her represented cleverness, industriousness, and protectiveness. bronze with dark polished patina.
Read our full Open Access policy for images. Underneath the belly of the spider's main body there is a basket with three glass eggs inside. [7], Among scholars, the spider is thought to be a symbol of Bourgeois' mother, who was a weaver and a tapestry restorer. At the bottom there are 2D representations of tassels. Spider was also showcased at the MoMA in New York from September 24, 2017 until January 28, 2018 in an exhibition entitled Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding Portrait. Louise Bourgeois used the spider as the central protagonist in her art during the last decades of her life. Of the spider's eight legs, all of them stick out away from the cage, surround it, except for one that points back in towards the sculpture. It is a simple director's chair that has been draped with fabric. There are also various other household objects and trinkets that have been hung, strewn, or stuck into the cage. On a separated fragment of the same piece, viewers can see a door and a hand. [16] A new record price for the artist was achieved when Spider number two, acquired from Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, was auctioned by a private collector with an estimate of $4 million to $6 million. [7]. [5] Jerry Gorovoy, Bourgeois' long time assistant, said that this piece was representative of a place where she felt safe: surrounded by the spider as her mother and the tapestries that reminded her of her childhood. Reserve your pass. Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. From drawings to large-scale installations, Bourgeois's spiders appear as looming and powerful protectresses, yet are delicate and vulnerable. Take a rest, have a bite, and enjoy the view. Louise Bourgeois. West Building Two pieces of bone, that have been emptied of marrow, are stuck in the side of it. The cage is circular and is approximately 4.5 meters in diameter and 5 meters in height. Louise Bourgeois – Spider, 1996. 7th St and Constitution Ave NW 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. daily, Sculpture Garden Another tapestry, which extends the whole height of the cage, contains a wooded landscape. Display caption Spider I is a bronze wall-mounted sculpture with a polished black patina made in 1995 by the French-born American artist Louise Bourgeois.
Inside the cage there is another tapestry panel leaning on the side to the left of the chair.
A key is also hanging inside the cage along with perfume bottles (thought to be reminiscent of a girl's youth[8]), a medal, and a watch. Closed. Namely, of them will narrate recurring themes in the life and work of the artist such as motherhood, childhood, fear, … Steel, tapestry, wood, glass, fabric, rubber, silver, gold, and bone. 133 x 263 x 249 inches. Spider (Cell). [3] The spider itself is made of bronze, whereas the cage is made of steel.[2]. [3] This is the highest price paid for an artwork by a woman artist at the time. The artist saw spiders as both fierce and fragile, capable of being protectors as well as predators. .swiper-container-255702 .swiper-wrapper{ height:auto;}@media only screen and (min-width: 768px){.swiper-container-255702 .swiper-wrapper{ height:400px;}}, Louise Bourgeois, The Nest, 1994; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, purchase through the Agnes E. Meyer and Elise S. Haas Fund and the gifts of Doris and Donald Fisher, Helen and Charles Schwab, and Vicki and Kent Logan; © The Easton Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, NY; photo: Ben Blackwell, Louise Bourgeois, Spider I, 1995, cast 1996; the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © The Easton Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY, Louise Bourgeois, Spider, 2003; gift of Helen and Charles Schwab through The Art Supporting Foundation; © The Easton Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, NY; photo: Christopher Burke, Header image: Louise Bourgeois Spiders (installation view, SFMOMA), 2017; photo: Katherine Du Tiel, A Look Inside the Louise Bourgeois House, Just How She Left It, The Country Dog Gentlemen Travel to Extraordinary Worlds: Louise Bourgeois. Not to be confused with Louise Bourgeois' similar sculpture, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, "Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding Portrait, a Conversation with Curator Deborah Wye", "Louise Bourgeois. Summary. These materials include steel, fabric, wood, glass, tapestry, rubber, bone, silver, and gold. American, born France, 1911 - 2010, This image is unavailable for download. The legs are thick, but in his first-hand description of the piece, Dutch cultural theorist, video and literary scholar, and professor at the University of Amsterdam,[6] Mieke Bal, describes them as being, "like a ballerina's; they stand on fine points of needle sharp toes."
Bourgeois associated the "Spider" series with her own mother, who died when the artist was 21. For the artist, whose work explored themes of childhood memory and loss, the spider carried associations of a maternal figure.
Her torso is missing from the image in a cut out resembling the shape of the letter 'S'. The artwork is made of bronze and granite and was created in 1994 by the French-born American artist Louise Bourgeois. Free, timed passes are required for West Building entry. [5] Spider stands 175 x 262 x 204 inches [2], nearly 15 feet in height. For Bourgeois, the spider embodied an intricate and sometimes contradictory mix of psychological and biographical allusions. © 2020 National Gallery of Art Notices Terms of Use Privacy Policy. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. overall: 281.9 x 833.1 x 792.5 cm (111 x 328 x 312 in. It has a black background with a towering tree covered in foliage and flowers. [15], In 2006, Bourgeois became the highest-paid living woman artist after a Spider sold for $4 million at Christie's in London; which was surpassed in 2008, when another Spider sold for $4.5 million. (sculptor)
[7], There is another bone, not stuck into the cage, but hung on a thread tied to the upper steel of the structure. ... Louise made many variants of Spider, but there is only one unique_ Spider/Cell,_ and it's the first time where the web of the spider is represented as an enclosure. Fabricated for NGA through (Robert Miller Gallery, New York); purchased 16 October 1997 by NGA. Beginning in 1984 until her death in 2010, Bourgeois developed a rich body of work around the spider, from delicate works on paper to colossal installations. The incomplete fabrics on and in the cage are thought to be symbolic of that element of her childhood.
Spider,1996, cast 1997.
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