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Maman (sculpture) facts for kids

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Maman
Giant spider strikes again!.jpg
Artist Louise Bourgeois
Year 1999 (1999)
Type Sculpture
Medium Stainless steel, bronze, marble
Dimensions 9271 x 8915 x 10236 mm

Maman (which means Mother in French) is a huge sculpture of a spider. It was created in 1999 by the artist Louise Bourgeois. This amazing artwork is made from strong materials like bronze, stainless steel, and marble.

It's one of the biggest sculptures in the world! Maman stands over 30 feet (9.27 meters) tall and is more than 33 feet (8.91 meters) wide. Inside the sculpture, there's a sac that holds 32 marble eggs. The spider's body parts, like its abdomen and thorax, are made of shiny bronze.

Louise Bourgeois first made Maman for a special art show at the Tate Modern museum in London. The very first one was made of steel. Later, six more copies were made using bronze. Bourgeois chose the Modern Art Foundry to cast her sculpture because they were known for their excellent work.

What Maman Means

Bürkliplatz - Louise Bourgeois' 'Maman' - Alpenquai 2011-07-26 17-36-24
The sac holding the marble eggs. This one is in Zürich, Switzerland.
Spider ^ - geograph.org.uk - 1140529
The original 1999 stainless steel Spider at the Tate Modern in 2009.

The idea for a spider sculpture came to Louise Bourgeois a long time ago. She first drew a spider in 1947. Later, she made another spider sculpture in 1996 before Maman.

Maman is a tribute to Bourgeois' own mother. Her mother, Josephine, worked with textiles. She repaired old tapestries in her father's workshop in Paris. Bourgeois saw her mother as strong and protective, much like a spider. Spiders spin webs, which reminded Bourgeois of her mother's weaving work.

Louise Bourgeois explained her feelings about the sculpture:

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.

This quote shows that for Bourgeois, spiders were not scary. Instead, they were symbols of protection and cleverness, just like her mother.

Where Maman Lives Permanently

Several copies of Maman are on display all over the world. They are so big that they are often placed outside museums or in large public spaces.

  • Tate Modern, UK – The Tate Modern bought their Maman sculpture in 2008. It was first shown in the museum's huge Turbine Hall. This specific Maman is special because it's the only one made from stainless steel.
  • National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada – This museum bought their Maman in 2005. It cost 3.2 million dollars, which was a big part of the gallery's yearly budget!
  • Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain
  • Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan – You can see this one at the base of the Mori Tower.
  • Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, United States
  • Qatar National Convention Center, Doha, Qatar

Where Maman Has Traveled

Besides its permanent homes, Maman has also traveled to many other cities for temporary exhibitions. It's a very popular sculpture that people around the world want to see. Some of the places it has visited include:

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Mamá (escultura) para niños

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

Gallery

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