US sculptor Louise Bourgeois dies at 98

French-born American sculptor Louise Bourgeois has died in New York, at the age of 98.

Based in New York since 1938, Bourgeois gained fame late in her long career and kept working to the end of her life.

Her giant spider sculptures have been exhibited around the world and earned her the nickname of Spiderwoman.

Her abstract explorations of themes such as birth, sexuality and death made her one of the world's most influential contemporary artists.

Bourgeois suffered a heart attack three days ago.

Although she had long been regarded by her contemporaries as one of the world's most important artists, it was not until her seventies that she began to attract a wider audience.

French-born artist Louise Bourgeois' sculpture of a giant spider outside Tate Modern in London in October 2007

Her spider sculptures - some of which are three storeys high - have been exhibited around the world.

She said her main inspiration came from her childhood in France, where her father had an affair with her governess, which her mother refused to acknowledge.

Four of her sculptures - including a 30-ft (nine-metre) tall spider, titled Maman - were the first works to appear in the new Tate Modern in London 10 years ago.

She also used her own clothes as the basis for a series of bronzes.