Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has installed Louise Bourgeois‘ sculpture “Maman” in the lower level entryway to the museum. The video above shows how it was done. 

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Bourgeois created “Maman” in honor of her mother, a weaver. The bronze sculpture, which is more than 30 feet tall and 33 feet wide, includes a sac containing 26 marble eggs. The artist was commissioned to create “Maman in 1999 for an exhibition at London’s Tate Modern; the original was in steel. Six bronze casts were made and can be found in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao; the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; and Qatar Museums, Doha; and now at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville.

When it announced the acquisition of the sculpture, the museum published this quote from Bourgeois, who died in 2010:

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“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 mosquitos. We know that mosquitos spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.”

 

Crystal Bridges also acquired three other works by Bourgeois: “Quarantiana,” a sculpture; “Untitled,” a painting that like Maman refers to weaving (and which reminds me of Duchamp’s “Chocolate Grinder No. 2); and “Connecticutiana,” oil on wood.

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The Arkansas Times still has room on its Art Bus headed to Crystal Bridges Sept. 11 to see “Maman” and “Jamie Wyeth,” a retrospective of the artists work from the Museum of Fine Art, Boston. Call 375-2985 to reserve a seat. 

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