Alexander Calder
Untitled, 1954
sheet metal, wire, and paint
17 3/4 x 8 1/4 x 7 1/2 in
45 x 21 x 19 cm
45 x 21 x 19 cm
Monogrammed on the top of the lower piece Calder Foundation Authentication Number: A21898 Best known for his mobiles, Alexander Calder conceived of sculptures as an experiment in space and motion....
Monogrammed on the top of the lower piece
Calder Foundation Authentication Number: A21898
Best known for his mobiles, Alexander Calder conceived of sculptures as an experiment in space and motion. Over the course of his prolific career, Calder developed works ranging from large-scale, colorful, and dramatic standing sculptures to miniature, delicate, and more figurative objects that perched on tabletops. Untitled (1954) is a beautiful example of his preoccupation with elemental systems. Comprising of three balanced discs, the sculpture is extremely suggestive of movement. Arranged with wire bent into formation, the discs appear to levitate, evoking volume without the accompanying mass. As written by curator Cara Manes, "Uniting all of Calder's works is a dependence on a viewer's perception of their many elements to achieve their full expression: they contain infinite forms, none of them final."
Calder Foundation Authentication Number: A21898
Best known for his mobiles, Alexander Calder conceived of sculptures as an experiment in space and motion. Over the course of his prolific career, Calder developed works ranging from large-scale, colorful, and dramatic standing sculptures to miniature, delicate, and more figurative objects that perched on tabletops. Untitled (1954) is a beautiful example of his preoccupation with elemental systems. Comprising of three balanced discs, the sculpture is extremely suggestive of movement. Arranged with wire bent into formation, the discs appear to levitate, evoking volume without the accompanying mass. As written by curator Cara Manes, "Uniting all of Calder's works is a dependence on a viewer's perception of their many elements to achieve their full expression: they contain infinite forms, none of them final."
Provenance
Collection Georges Salles, ParisJean Leymarie Collection
ArtCurial auction, France
To the current owner by descent
Exhibitions
Paris, Artcurial, Hôtel Marcel Dassault, Calder, l'équilibre poétique, June to September 2005, Reproduced in colors, Page 6Le Bourget, Gagosian Gallery / Galerie Patrick Seguin, Calder - Prouvé, June to November, 2013 reproduced in colors, pp. 67, 69 et 178