A deep-pocketed collector with room to spare could snare one of the most famous contemporary sculptures in his web next month, when famed Louise Bourgeois Spider (1996) arrives at auction at Sotheby’s in New York. The work, ten feet tall and over 18 feet wide, is expected to fetch between $30 million and $40 million, meaning it is very likely to break at least one auction record, if not several.
If the work hammers its low estimate, once fees are tallied, it would likely become the artist’s most expensive work at auction and the most expensive sculpture by a female artist ever sold at auction, surpassing another Bourgeoise . Spider (1996) sold for $28 million ($32.1 million with fees) at Christie’s in May 2019. If it sells at or above its high estimate, the present Spider could be within web distance of the record for any work by a female artist at auction, currently the $44.4 million (with fees) that Walmart heiress Alice Walton paid for Georgia O’s painting. ‘Keeffe Jimson weeds (1936) in 2014.
Spider is offered by Fundação Itaú, the non-profit arm of Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco. The sculpture was acquired by Olavo Setubal, a collector and co-founder of the bank, after being featured as the centerpiece of a special presentation of works by Bourgeois at the 1996 São Paulo Biennial, for which the artist was also designed a , spiral logo. The sculpture was loaned to the Modern Art Museum of São Paulo from 1997 to 2017, and then exhibited in various Brazilian institutions.
Louise Bourgois, Spider1996 Photo by Edouard Fraipont, courtesy Sotheby’s
In the years since Spider‘s, Fundação Itaú has shifted its collection priorities to focus on works by artists based in Brazil. Proceeds from the sale of the sculpture will support these efforts.
Works of Bourgeois Spiders are exhibited in many major museums around the world, including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Dia:Beacon in New York and the Tate Modern in London. “THE Spider has become a global icon, recognizable by all given its prominent presence in cultural institutions around the world,” David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s in New York, said in a statement. “It is not only a paragon of modern sculpture, but has taken on a greater symbolic presence in contemporary culture internationally.”
The present Spider will be exhibited at Sotheby’s headquarters in New York on May 6 before being offered during the sale of contemporary art under the house’s marquee on May 18. The same sale will feature an equally austere large-scale work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, It is time (1985), which is expected to gross over $30 million.
