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Lot Essay
This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A02571.
"We passed the Straights of Gibraltar late at night, and the water was somewhat phosphorescent. Porpoises overtaking us, sometimes swimming three or four abreast, outlined by the phosphorescence, would scratch the surface against the bow of the boat - a truly wonderful sight." (Alexander Calder, An Autobiography with Pictures, New York, 1966, p. 139).
With its streamlined and curvaceous forms arching through the air, Alexander Calder's Fishy II clearly invokes his memories of that unforgettable night. Demonstrating Calder's mastery of his medium he suspends finely honed and gracious piscine forms over a cascade of dark elements, reminiscent of the jet black of the midnight Mediterranean Sea. By conceiving Fishy II as a hanging wall mobile Calder uses the evenness of the supporting surface to emphasizing the refined silhouette, whilst still retaining a degree of movement and flexibility for which his works are known.
The fish form offered him endless possibilities to explore the nature of sculpture and push the boundaries of the medium. One of his earliest moving sculptures was an innovative, crank-driven Goldfish Bowl (1929), in which the fish 'swim' when a small handle was turned. Calder formed a particular attraction to the fish form and returned to it at several pivotal moments in his career.
Once a part of the famed collection of the New York businesswoman and investor, Evelyn Sharp, Fishy II was included as part of the 1978 exhibition of her collection at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Her collection included masterworks by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse but she also had a strong interest in works by Calder, owning two pieces by him; a piece he named especially for her, Evelyn and Fishy II.
"We passed the Straights of Gibraltar late at night, and the water was somewhat phosphorescent. Porpoises overtaking us, sometimes swimming three or four abreast, outlined by the phosphorescence, would scratch the surface against the bow of the boat - a truly wonderful sight." (Alexander Calder, An Autobiography with Pictures, New York, 1966, p. 139).
With its streamlined and curvaceous forms arching through the air, Alexander Calder's Fishy II clearly invokes his memories of that unforgettable night. Demonstrating Calder's mastery of his medium he suspends finely honed and gracious piscine forms over a cascade of dark elements, reminiscent of the jet black of the midnight Mediterranean Sea. By conceiving Fishy II as a hanging wall mobile Calder uses the evenness of the supporting surface to emphasizing the refined silhouette, whilst still retaining a degree of movement and flexibility for which his works are known.
The fish form offered him endless possibilities to explore the nature of sculpture and push the boundaries of the medium. One of his earliest moving sculptures was an innovative, crank-driven Goldfish Bowl (1929), in which the fish 'swim' when a small handle was turned. Calder formed a particular attraction to the fish form and returned to it at several pivotal moments in his career.
Once a part of the famed collection of the New York businesswoman and investor, Evelyn Sharp, Fishy II was included as part of the 1978 exhibition of her collection at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Her collection included masterworks by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse but she also had a strong interest in works by Calder, owning two pieces by him; a piece he named especially for her, Evelyn and Fishy II.