A monumental spider sculpture by French artist Louise Bourgeois has been acquired for $32.5 million at an auction in New York.
A gigantic “Spider” by the French sculptor and visual artist Louise Bourgeois was sold Thursday, May 18, 2023 for 32.5 million dollars, during an auction at Sotheby’s in New York.
Three meters high, this spider is one of the most famous works of the artist who died in 2010, of French origin and naturalized American, who spent a large part of his life in New York.
#AuctionUpdate: Louise Bourgeois’ monumental masterpiece, Spider, from 1996, sells for a record-breaking $32.8 million, setting a new record for Bourgeois! #SothebysContemporary pic.twitter.com/VdXybXbqK2
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 18, 2023
Its sale was a “really special moment” as it set an auction record for a work by the artist, but also for a sculpture made by a woman, according to Kelsey Leonard, head of evening auctions from Sotheby’s.
“Les Araignées de Bourgeois is without a doubt a true masterpiece of 20th century art” , she underlined.
This “Spider” by Louise Bourgeois was previously kept by the Fundaçao Itau in São Paulo, Brazil.
Spiders and Trauma
In 2022, another “Spider” by the artist sold for $40 million at the Art Basel fair in Switzerland.
Louise Bourgeois explored in her work the traumas of her childhood, producing a work with a very strong emotional power, even provocative.
She notably produced a series of giant spiders made of steel and presented as symbols of her mother.
Other of these “Spiders” have been exhibited in renowned museums, such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Tate Modern in London or the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco.
