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Patrick Wesley

Spotted

Louise Bourgeois — Spider
Louise Bourgeois

Spider

1997

Spider is one of Louise Bourgeois most iconic and monumental sculptures, a towering arachnid form cast in dark patinated bronze whose imposing scale and arching legs command the surrounding landscape. Bourgeois created the Spider series as a tribute to her mother, a weaver and tapestry restorer whom she associated with the spider as a metaphor for protection, nurturing, and industrious creation. The work carries deep psychological resonance, balancing themes of maternal strength and vulnerability through its simultaneously threatening and sheltering form. Positioned within an open sculptural park against a downtown skyline, this example demonstrates the extraordinary civic impact of large scale contemporary sculpture in public space.

Medium
Bronze

Notes

The document (social media post from story_louise and atlasobscura) describes the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, Iowa. John and Mary Pappajohn donated 24 sculptures to the Des Moines art museum in 2009 and have continued adding works. The park features works by Keith Haring, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Robert Indiana, Ai Weiwei, Willem de Kooning, Jaume Plensa, Richard Serra, Anthony Caro, Deborah Butterfield, Yoshitomo Nara, Tony Smith, Barry Flanagan, Judith Shea, William Tucker, and Gary Hume. The collection was estimated at $40 million. The sculpture in the document photo appears to be a different work (a typographic letter sculpture, possibly by Jaume Plensa) than the Spider shown in the artwork photo.

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About this work

Louise Bourgeois, Spider, 1997

Spider is one of Louise Bourgeois most iconic and monumental sculptures, a towering arachnid form cast in dark patinated bronze whose imposing scale and arching legs command the surrounding landscape. Bourgeois created the Spider series as a tribute to her mother, a weaver and tapestry restorer whom she associated with the spider as a metaphor for protection, nurturing, and industrious creation. The work carries deep psychological resonance, balancing themes of maternal strength and vulnerability through its simultaneously threatening and sheltering form. Positioned within an open sculptural park against a downtown skyline, this example demonstrates the extraordinary civic impact of large scale contemporary sculpture in public space.

Medium
Bronze
Year
1997
Seen at
Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

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Collected by

Patrick Wesley, Alex Capecelatro