The Guggenheim Spider, Bilbao Editorial Photo

Maman 1999, commonly known as the Guggenheim Spider, is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider, is among the world`s largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide 927 x 891 x 1024 cm. It includes a sac containing 32 marble eggs and its abdomen and thorax are made of ribbed bronze. The title is the familiar French word for Mother akin to Mummy. The sculpture was created in 1999 by Bourgeois as a part of her inaugural commission of The Unilever Series 2000, in the Turbine Hall at London`s Tate Modern. This original was created in steel, with an edition of six subsequent castings in bronze. Bourgeois chose the Modern Art Foundry to cast the sculpture because of its reputation and work.