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Lot Essay
Embodying the platonic elegance and graceful kinetics of Alexander Calder’s wonderous artistic world, Untitled is an exceptionally rare, early example of his celebrated mobiles. Executed in painted wood, wire, and string, Untitled is a profoundly intimate work made just as Calder was attaining his artistic maturity with the invention of his revolutionary new art form. The work’s abstracted spherical forms relate to his conception of the cosmos, while its mesmeric, gentle journey through space—constantly oscillating in a random sequence of motions around a dynamic equilibrium—articulates Calder’s technical brilliance and meticulous attention toward movement. Defining his intent in 1932, Calder stated: “Why must art be static? You look at an abstraction, sculptured or painted, an entirely exciting arrangement of planes, spheres, nuclei, entirely without meaning. It would be perfect but it is always still. The next step in sculpture is motion” (A. Calder, quoted in “Objects to Art Being Static, So He Keeps It in Motion,” New York World-Telegram, 11 June 1932).
Untitled employs the fluid interaction of five elements suspended on strings, the size of the spherical wooden forms gradually attenuating upon each cascading level. The upper element employs a large, yellow form on one end of the wire which acts as a counterbalance to the rest of the sculpture. A medium-sized black sphere acts as the secondary counterbalance, upon which a smaller white form carries the final wire, consisting of a smaller green and a tiny red form. Calder’s choice of red, yellow, black and white was an homage to Piet Mondrian, whose gridded abstractions inspired Calder’s innovative advance into kinetic sculpture. Visiting Mondrian’s studio in October 1930, Calder suggested to the Dutch artist that it “would be fine if [his works] could be made to oscillate in different directions and at different amplitudes” (A. Calder, quoted in M. Prather, Alexander Calder: 1898-1976, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, p. 57). After Mondrian demurred, responding “no, it is not necessary, my painting is already fast,” Calder embarked upon his first moving sculptures (P. Mondrian, quoted in ibid., p. 57).
Calder was immersed within the exuberant artistic environment of interwar Paris at the time, becoming close to artists including Marcel Duchamp, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Joan Miró as well as Mondrian. Absorbing the exciting aesthetic developments advanced by the Cubists, Constructivists, and Surrealists, Calder was well placed to synthesize the artistic universe around him into a singular art form, implicating actual movement into three-dimensional sculpture to create a novel, fourth dimension. As Calder later commented on the time, “when I began making mobiles, everyone was talking about movement in painting and sculpture. In fact, there wasn’t much of it (A. Calder, quoted in J. Perl, The Conquest of Time, The Early Years: 1898-1940, New York, 2017, p. 394). While his contemporaries only insinuated movement within static paintings and sculptures, “Calder’s revolutionary mission was to trade the implicit for the explicit, taking his arcs and vectors into the fourth dimension. Gallerygoers could now watch as the journey of a line or a sphere unfolded in actual time and space” (ibid. pp. 401-402).
Calder described how the circular forms interacting within Untitled “seem to me to have some kind of cosmic or universal feeling” (A. Calder, quoted in M. Prather, op. cit., p. 59). Calder’s invented forms here convey his conception of the cosmos. His first attempt at creating his own personal universe was for a 1932 exhibition at Galerie Percier, where he made ostensibly static constructions which he titled Universes. Calder desired to suspend his spheres without any visible structural supports, allowing them to appear as if floating in space, but was then unable to achieve this vision. His later invention of the mobile would complete his dream. As Calder explained, “the underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof. For that is a rather large model to work from. What I mean is the idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different colors and temperatures, and surrounded and interlarded with wisps of gaseous condition, and some at rests, while others move in peculiar manners, seems to me the ideal source of form” (A. Calder, quoted in ibid., p. 59).
Wood was of critical importance both to the conception of Calder’s mobiles and to the artist’s own creative development. He recalled in 1959 how “in 1932, a wooden globe [or sphere] gave me the idea of making a universe, something like a solar system. That’s where the whole thing came from” (A. Calder, quoted in ibid., p. 60). Beyond serving as a model for his mobiles, wood was also the earliest material which Calder worked with, and one that he constantly returned to. Reflecting on his childhood, Calder recalled how “when I was a kid of eight my father and mother gave me some tools with which to work wood and I began to do everything it took to augment my tools” (A. Calder, quoted in ibid., p. 15). In the artist’s first self-portrait, executed in crayon at the age of nine, Calder fashions himself as a craftsman, sawing a piece of wood. Following his critically acclaimed metal wire sculptures of the 1920s, Calder returned to wood, mastering the method of direct carving. As the medium with which Calder had the most knowledge of and control over, he turned to wood again for his first mobiles, where he required absolute mastery over the weight, balance, and dimensions of his forms.
Reflecting on the titles of his iconic art form, Calder stated how Marcel Duchamp “gave me the term he used for his own moving constructions—‘mobile.’ This, in French means not only ‘movable’—but also a ‘motive’ ‘a reason for an act’ so I found it a very good word” (A. Calder, quoted in J. Perl, op. cit., p. 407). Untitled perfectly encapsulates the dueling meanings of the double entendre. The sculpture’s movements exude languorous sophistication, while the work’s poised forms provide a compelling motive for Calder to continue exploring the possibilities of his floating forms. The artist defined his ideal mobile, noting that “a slow and gentile impulse, as though one were moving a barge, is almost infallible. In any case, gentle is the word” (A Calder, quoted in M. Prather, op. cit., p. 138). Untitled is a perfect exemplification of Calder’s goal, the work’s almost otherworldly movements almost appearing to leave an invisible wake as the elements cross and uncross in its captivating sequence of motions in a composition in constant state of change.
Untitled employs the fluid interaction of five elements suspended on strings, the size of the spherical wooden forms gradually attenuating upon each cascading level. The upper element employs a large, yellow form on one end of the wire which acts as a counterbalance to the rest of the sculpture. A medium-sized black sphere acts as the secondary counterbalance, upon which a smaller white form carries the final wire, consisting of a smaller green and a tiny red form. Calder’s choice of red, yellow, black and white was an homage to Piet Mondrian, whose gridded abstractions inspired Calder’s innovative advance into kinetic sculpture. Visiting Mondrian’s studio in October 1930, Calder suggested to the Dutch artist that it “would be fine if [his works] could be made to oscillate in different directions and at different amplitudes” (A. Calder, quoted in M. Prather, Alexander Calder: 1898-1976, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, p. 57). After Mondrian demurred, responding “no, it is not necessary, my painting is already fast,” Calder embarked upon his first moving sculptures (P. Mondrian, quoted in ibid., p. 57).
Calder was immersed within the exuberant artistic environment of interwar Paris at the time, becoming close to artists including Marcel Duchamp, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Joan Miró as well as Mondrian. Absorbing the exciting aesthetic developments advanced by the Cubists, Constructivists, and Surrealists, Calder was well placed to synthesize the artistic universe around him into a singular art form, implicating actual movement into three-dimensional sculpture to create a novel, fourth dimension. As Calder later commented on the time, “when I began making mobiles, everyone was talking about movement in painting and sculpture. In fact, there wasn’t much of it (A. Calder, quoted in J. Perl, The Conquest of Time, The Early Years: 1898-1940, New York, 2017, p. 394). While his contemporaries only insinuated movement within static paintings and sculptures, “Calder’s revolutionary mission was to trade the implicit for the explicit, taking his arcs and vectors into the fourth dimension. Gallerygoers could now watch as the journey of a line or a sphere unfolded in actual time and space” (ibid. pp. 401-402).
Calder described how the circular forms interacting within Untitled “seem to me to have some kind of cosmic or universal feeling” (A. Calder, quoted in M. Prather, op. cit., p. 59). Calder’s invented forms here convey his conception of the cosmos. His first attempt at creating his own personal universe was for a 1932 exhibition at Galerie Percier, where he made ostensibly static constructions which he titled Universes. Calder desired to suspend his spheres without any visible structural supports, allowing them to appear as if floating in space, but was then unable to achieve this vision. His later invention of the mobile would complete his dream. As Calder explained, “the underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof. For that is a rather large model to work from. What I mean is the idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different colors and temperatures, and surrounded and interlarded with wisps of gaseous condition, and some at rests, while others move in peculiar manners, seems to me the ideal source of form” (A. Calder, quoted in ibid., p. 59).
Wood was of critical importance both to the conception of Calder’s mobiles and to the artist’s own creative development. He recalled in 1959 how “in 1932, a wooden globe [or sphere] gave me the idea of making a universe, something like a solar system. That’s where the whole thing came from” (A. Calder, quoted in ibid., p. 60). Beyond serving as a model for his mobiles, wood was also the earliest material which Calder worked with, and one that he constantly returned to. Reflecting on his childhood, Calder recalled how “when I was a kid of eight my father and mother gave me some tools with which to work wood and I began to do everything it took to augment my tools” (A. Calder, quoted in ibid., p. 15). In the artist’s first self-portrait, executed in crayon at the age of nine, Calder fashions himself as a craftsman, sawing a piece of wood. Following his critically acclaimed metal wire sculptures of the 1920s, Calder returned to wood, mastering the method of direct carving. As the medium with which Calder had the most knowledge of and control over, he turned to wood again for his first mobiles, where he required absolute mastery over the weight, balance, and dimensions of his forms.
Reflecting on the titles of his iconic art form, Calder stated how Marcel Duchamp “gave me the term he used for his own moving constructions—‘mobile.’ This, in French means not only ‘movable’—but also a ‘motive’ ‘a reason for an act’ so I found it a very good word” (A. Calder, quoted in J. Perl, op. cit., p. 407). Untitled perfectly encapsulates the dueling meanings of the double entendre. The sculpture’s movements exude languorous sophistication, while the work’s poised forms provide a compelling motive for Calder to continue exploring the possibilities of his floating forms. The artist defined his ideal mobile, noting that “a slow and gentile impulse, as though one were moving a barge, is almost infallible. In any case, gentle is the word” (A Calder, quoted in M. Prather, op. cit., p. 138). Untitled is a perfect exemplification of Calder’s goal, the work’s almost otherworldly movements almost appearing to leave an invisible wake as the elements cross and uncross in its captivating sequence of motions in a composition in constant state of change.