Alexander Calder, Cinema, 1972
Alexander Calder was born July 22, 1898, in Lawnton, Pennsylvania, into a family of artists. In 1919, he received an engineering degree from Steven… [Read biography »]
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Signed Alexander Calder, Unique Original Color Calder Gouache and ink on paper, Cinema, 1972  |
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| Artist: | Calder, Alexander (1898 - 1976) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Cinema, 1972 |
| Medium: | Unique Original Color Calder Gouache and ink on paper |
| Image Size: | 43 in x 29 1/2 in (109.22 cm x 74.93 cm) |
| Framed Size: | approx. 52 in x 39 1/2 in (132.08 cm x 100.33 cm) |
| Signed: | Hand signed and dated by Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976) in black gouache in the lower right: 'Calder 72' |
| Edition: | a Unique work, signed LR Calder (1898-1976) 1972. This work is registered as an authentic work by Calder in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A12910 |
| Condition: | This work is in very good condition with bold, bright colors |
Price :Item# 1970 | $125,000  To speak directly with the Director, Alex Adelman, please call (510) 777-9970 / 1-800-805-7060. |
| Description: | |
As an homage to classic cinema, Alexander Calder has transcended the medium of film to encompass its fun, whimsical, and romantic quality. Using color gouache, he is able to instill his own, characteristic brush stroke and humor in this scene of a reclining woman and her daunting male counterpart staring down upon her. This, of course, is being lit by stage lights from above, allowing her skin to shimmer and dance across the sheet. Cinema evokes the German expressionist era in film with the solid, black and white figure that dominates the central composition. He is further accented by the pale, pink hues of the woman's skin, her golden, curly hair, and the fluffy white cloud of a pillow on which she rests her head. The work is incredibly grand in scale, seemingly recalling the grandeur of the silver screen and the romance and humor it inspires in our hearts. This work is registered as an authentic work by Calder in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A12910. Created in 1972, this original color gouache is hand signed by Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976) in black gouache in the lower right. It is also dated '72' in the lower right, next to his signature. The paper he used is watermark; 'Fidelis MBM Trait Lavis Arches France ?' appears in the paper. There is also an embossed TR PROVENANCE: - Galerie Maeght, Paris - Michael Levy Gallery, Long Beach - Jonathan Novak, Contemporary Art, Los Angeles - Private Collection, California - Isadore And Kelly Friedman Collection Catalogue Raisonné & COA: 2) A Masterworks COA will be included with the sale of this work. About the Framing: | |
| Style: | Contemporary 20th Century Modern American Master, stabiles, mobiles and tapestries |
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Biography of Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976)
Alexander Calder was born July 22, 1898, in Lawnton, Pennsylvania, into a family of artists. In 1919, he received an engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken. Calder attended the Art Students League, New York, from 1923 to 1926, studying briefly with Thomas Hart Benton and John Sloan, among others. As a freelance artist for the National Police Gazette in 1925, he spent two weeks sketching at the circus; his fascination with the subject dates from this time. He also made his first sculpture in 1925; the following year he made several constructions of animals and figures with wire and wood. The first exhibition of Calder paintings took place in 1926 at the Artist’s Gallery, New York. Later that year, he went to Paris and attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In Paris, he met Stanley William Hayter, exhibited at the 1926 Salon des Indépendants, and in 1927 began giving performances of his miniature circus. The first show of his wire animals and caricature portraits was held at the Weyhe Gallery, New York, in 1928. That same year, he met Joan Miró, who became his lifelong friend. Subsequently, Calder divided his time between France and the United States. In 1929, the Galerie Billiet gave him his first solo show in Paris. He met Frederick Kiesler, Fernand Léger, and Theo van Doesburg and visited Piet Mondrian’s studio in 1930. Calder began to experiment with abstract sculpture at this time and in 1931 and 1932 introduced moving parts into his work. These moving sculptures were called “mobiles”; the stationary constructions were to be named “stabiles.” He exhibited with the Abstraction-Création group in Paris in 1933. In 1943, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, gave him a solo exhibition.
During the 1950s, Calder traveled widely and executed Towers (wall mobiles) and Gongs (sound mobiles). He won the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the 1952 Venice Biennale. Late in the decade, Calder worked extensively with gouache; from this period, he executed numerous major public commissions. In 1964–65, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, presented a Calder retrospective. He began the Totems in 1966 and the Animobiles in 1971; both are variations on the standing mobile. A Calder exhibition was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 1976. Alexander Calder died November 11, 1976, in New York.
Alexander Calder created a piece called "WTC Stabile", which was placed in front of 7 World Trade Center, one of the buildings on the perimeter of the World Trade Center plaza. Due to the attacks on September 11, 2001, the piece was destroyed by the collapse of 7 World Trade Center.
According to the Library of Congress, "About 30 percent of the Calder piece was recovered, thanks to flyers describing it that were handed out to recovery workers at Ground Zero by Calder's grandson. Wenegrat said the artwork cannot be restored, but its pieces may come back to life in a different form. Wenegrat said the value of these destroyed pieces, as well as those in other World Trade Center public places, is estimated at $15 million."
