ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Spider's Web

1908
Not on view
Brigman rejected the everyday in favor of the dreamlike. Through her work she created a pantheon of human, plant, and animal hybrids, offering her own interpretation of literary and mythological subjects. This spatially disorientating image of a woman floating almost weightlessly and enveloped in a textured veil probably alludes to Native American legends that view spiders as symbols of female energy—weavers of fate and creation. More specifically, it may reference Iktomi, a spider that the Lakota Sioux believe to be a supernatural spirit that shapeshifts into human form. Brigman’s willingness to go to extreme lengths to explore her art, defy the traditional role of women, and integrate the human body into the landscape led to a revival of interest in her work by practitioners of the feminist and land art movements during the late twentieth century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Spider's Web
  • Artist: Anne W. Brigman (American, Honolulu, Hawaii 1869–1950 Eagle Rock, California)
  • Date: 1908
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: 25.0 x 17.2 cm (9 13/16 x 6 3/4 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1933
  • Object Number: 33.43.123
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Charybdis, Anne W. Brigman American, Gelatin silver print
Charybdis
Anne W. Brigman
1942
The Echo, Anne W. Brigman American, Gelatin silver print
The Echo
Anne W. Brigman
1908
Grief, Anne W. Brigman American, Platinum print
Grief
Anne W. Brigman
1910
The Moon-Cave
Anne W. Brigman
ca. 1907
The Pool, Anne W. Brigman American, Gelatin silver print
The Pool
Anne W. Brigman
ca. 1906

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.