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Calder uses his signature palette of red, blue, yellow, black, and white that imparts a dynamic quality to the finished piece. In an article on abstract art, Calder explained his preference for these colors: “I have chiefly limited myself to the use of black and white as being the most disparate colors. Red is the color most opposed to both of these—and then, finally, the other primaries. The secondary colors and intermediate shades serve only to confuse and muddle the distinctness and clarity.” [1]
Though the colors may be simple, there is nothing simple about the construction of the piece, which Calder would have achieved through intuition and by trial and error. Only eight years prior, Calder had created his first mobile, and it soon became the form that is most associated with his art. Throughout his career, he explored the many possibilities of this unique sculptural form and, despite shifts in scale, palette, and shape, Calder’s mobiles retain a lyrical quality and call for an interaction between viewer and sculpture that is set in motion by the presence of the viewer.
Notes:
[1] Calder, “What Abstract Art Means,” Museum of Modern Art Bulletin 18, no.3 (Spring 1951), 8, quoted in Carmen Giménez, and A. S. Rower Calder: Gravity and Grace (London: Phaidon Press, 2004), 52.
ProvenancePierre Matisse (1900-1989), New York, NY [1]
Oliver Brooks [2]
Lee Ault & Co., New York [3]
To 1981
Betsy Main Babcock (1937-2001), Winston-Salem, NC [4]
From 1981
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Betsy Main Babcock on November 12, 1981. [5]
Notes:
[1] Joan Durana, Provenance Research, c.1983, object file.
[2] See note 1.
[3] See note 1.
[4] Deed of Gift, object file.
[5] See note 4.
Exhibition History1991-1992
Abstract Sculpture In America 1930-1970
The American Federation of the Arts
Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL (2/7/1991-3/31/1991)
Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, GA (4/19/1991-5/30/1991)
Akron Art Museum, Arkon, OH (8/24/1991-10/20/1991)
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (11/9/1991-1/4/1992)
Musée du Québec, Québec, Canada (1/25/1992-3/21/1992)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL (4/11/1992-6/7/1992)
2010-2011
Figuring Abstraction
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (10/30/2010-10/30/2011)
Published ReferencesAbstract Sculpture In America. 1930-1970 (AFA, 1991).
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017).
pg. 174, 175
DepartmentAmerican Art
Untitled
Artist
Alexander Calder
(1898 - 1976)
Date1938
Mediumpainted sheet metal and wire
DimensionsHeight: 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm)
Overall (base): 2 x 4 x 4 in. (5.1 x 10.2 x 10.2 cm)
SignedCA (monogram)
Credit LineGift of Betsy Main Babcock
Copyright© Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Object number1981.2.1
DescriptionDespite its small scale, Untitled is characteristic of Alexander Calder’s innovative style. But it is also unusual in its combination of a rocking base with movable parts, created through a subtle balance of cut and welded sheet metal and wire. It is a cross between a classic mobile that hangs down from above and a stabile that stands solidly on the ground. Organic shapes dominate, both in the positive shapes of the cut metal and in the negative shapes defined by the wires. The vermillion-red, crescent-shaped stand offers the mobile vacillating support that adds to the playful quality of the sculpture. An additional touch of vermillion in the form of a skyward-pointing arrow draws the eye away from the base towards the delicate arrangement of appendages. Two black oblong shapes hang in balance and anchor the upward movement of the four arms, each terminating in a different shape and color. Interlaced initials, C and A, on the base are placed to visually counterbalance the tilt of the mobile. Calder uses his signature palette of red, blue, yellow, black, and white that imparts a dynamic quality to the finished piece. In an article on abstract art, Calder explained his preference for these colors: “I have chiefly limited myself to the use of black and white as being the most disparate colors. Red is the color most opposed to both of these—and then, finally, the other primaries. The secondary colors and intermediate shades serve only to confuse and muddle the distinctness and clarity.” [1]
Though the colors may be simple, there is nothing simple about the construction of the piece, which Calder would have achieved through intuition and by trial and error. Only eight years prior, Calder had created his first mobile, and it soon became the form that is most associated with his art. Throughout his career, he explored the many possibilities of this unique sculptural form and, despite shifts in scale, palette, and shape, Calder’s mobiles retain a lyrical quality and call for an interaction between viewer and sculpture that is set in motion by the presence of the viewer.
Notes:
[1] Calder, “What Abstract Art Means,” Museum of Modern Art Bulletin 18, no.3 (Spring 1951), 8, quoted in Carmen Giménez, and A. S. Rower Calder: Gravity and Grace (London: Phaidon Press, 2004), 52.
ProvenancePierre Matisse (1900-1989), New York, NY [1]
Oliver Brooks [2]
Lee Ault & Co., New York [3]
To 1981
Betsy Main Babcock (1937-2001), Winston-Salem, NC [4]
From 1981
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Betsy Main Babcock on November 12, 1981. [5]
Notes:
[1] Joan Durana, Provenance Research, c.1983, object file.
[2] See note 1.
[3] See note 1.
[4] Deed of Gift, object file.
[5] See note 4.
Exhibition History1991-1992
Abstract Sculpture In America 1930-1970
The American Federation of the Arts
Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL (2/7/1991-3/31/1991)
Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, GA (4/19/1991-5/30/1991)
Akron Art Museum, Arkon, OH (8/24/1991-10/20/1991)
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (11/9/1991-1/4/1992)
Musée du Québec, Québec, Canada (1/25/1992-3/21/1992)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL (4/11/1992-6/7/1992)
2010-2011
Figuring Abstraction
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (10/30/2010-10/30/2011)
Published ReferencesAbstract Sculpture In America. 1930-1970 (AFA, 1991).
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017).
pg. 174, 175
Status
On view