Maman (sculpture)

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

The original 1999 stainless steel Spider at the Tate Modern in 2009

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.

— Louise Bourgeois[5]

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 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 3.2 million dollars. At that time, the price was deemed excessive by some critics, as it took around a 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]
• Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, USA[12]
• Qatar National Convention Center, Doha, Qatar[13]

Tours and featured exhibitions of Maman include:

• 2001: Rockefeller Center Plaza, New York[1]
• 2001: City Hall, The Hague, The Netherlands
• 2002: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia[1]
• 2003: Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 2006: Mariakerke, Ostend, Belgium[14]
• 2007: Wanås Castle, Sweden
• 2008: Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France[15]
• 2008: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France[16]
• 27 March 2007 – 2 March 2008: Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts
• 18 October 2008 – 25 January 2009: Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy
• 2011: Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina[16]
• Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), São Paulo, Brasil, 2011
• Bundesplatz, Bern, Switzerland, 24 May 2011 – 7 June 2011[15]
• Bürkliplatz, Zürich, Switzerland, 10 June 2011 – 2 August 2011[15]
• Place Neuve, Geneva, Switzerland, 3 August 2011 – 28 August 2011
• Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, 3 September 2011 – 8 January 2012[15]
• Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany, 23 January 2012 – 17 June 2012
• Qatar National Convention Center, Qatar – The Maman sculpture; exhibited from 20 January – 1 June 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.[17] The exhibit was organised by the Qatar Museums Authority.[18]
• Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan, 2012 – 2013
• Qatar National Convention Centre, Ad Dawha, Qatar, February 2014
• Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico, 15 November 2013 – 2 March 2014
• Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, January 2015 – 17 May 2015
• Museum Voorlinden, Den Haag, The Netherlands, till 17 may 2020

• Cultural depictions of spiders
• List of artworks by Louise Bourgeois
• Spider (Bourgeois)
• Featured in Denis Villeneuve's 2013 film, Enemy.

• 
  Exhibited at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.
• 
  View from the National Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
• 
  At the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
• 
  The sculpture in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 
  At Lake Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
• 
  At Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
• 
  At Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maman by Louise Bourgeois.

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