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Lot Essay
“I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red…. I often wish that I’d been a fauve in 1905.” – Alexander Calder
As an engineer, poet and artist, Calder had a profound interest in the elements at play in our universe, such as movement, natural forms and color. Through sculpture, Calder sought to redefine the nature of art by taking it off the pedestal and breathing movement into its static form. Best known for his use of bold geometric forms, kinetic orchestration and animated movement, Calder was always careful to create works that offered the possibility of dynamic energy without being prescriptive about how they should move.
Purchased directly from Perls Galleries by Ellin and Bernhard Blumenthal, Red Nine has been closely held in their personal collection for decades. Executed in 1965, this particular example was created at a high point in the artist’s career, a time when he was realizing some of his most accomplished mobiles while also expanding his practice to produce monumental stabiles.
Formed by a cascade of nine red elements, as hinted in the work’s title, Red Nine reveals Calder's love for the color. The shade is animated by the gentle and mysterious movements of the mobile as it shifts, prompted by the changing atmospheric conditions or a gentle push. Some of the forms are horizontal, some vertical, allowing for an extra play of light and variation within the effects that each element creates. This is heightened by the spindly red wire from which the various fin-like forms hang. For Calder, color was not a representational force, but rather an emotional one, in much the same way as the historical pioneers in non-traditional use of color, such as Henri Matisse and Andre Derain. As Calder himself once exclaimed: “I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red…. I often wish that I’d been a fauve in 1905.” (A. Calder, quoted in H. H. Arnason and U. Mulas, Calder, London, 1971, p. 69).
Suspended in mid-air, the constellation of enigmatic shapes and motifs of these dangling forms recall the silhouettes of summer swallows soaring through the sky or beautiful butterflies dancing in the air. Calder's skillful craftsmanship allows each piece to retain its inherent delineation while at the same time sustaining a harmonious sense of unity. Even the largest of the elements, which the artist used to maintain the physical balance of the overall work, retain a sense of lightness through the deft insertion of voids between these elements, creating the overall visual and physical agility that characterizes his best work. Red Nine may be considered both for its tangible parts—the sheet metal, wire and paint which comprise the present work—as well as for the atmosphere that it creates. Calder’s mobiles are timeless, for they are in constant dialogue with the present, responding to the unique conditions of one moment in time. This poetic play between form and space speaks clearly to Calder’s intuitive vision, his innate ability to forge form from material objects such that one feels as though each mobile is an organic force, a living being, in its own right.
The year 1965 marked a significant milestone in Alexander Calder's illustrious career. In January, the landmark retrospective of his work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum concluded, solidifying his status as one of the preeminent figures in the contemporary art world. Harry F. Guggenheim, in his foreword to the exhibition catalogue, lauded Calder as “America's greatest modern sculptor” (H. F. Guggenheim, foreword to Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., New York, 1964, p. 6). In that same year, prior to his departure for France, Calder engaged in discussions with the esteemed architect I. M. Pei regarding a monumental sculpture intended for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This collaboration resulted in the significant installation of La Grande voile (1965) that has graced the Cambridge campus since 1966.
“When everything goes right, a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprises.” – Alexander Calder
Much like Calder's other major works, Red Nine masterfully blends visual elegance with architectural sophistication. Its chromatic simplicity is set off by the complexity of its structure. Calder's ability to transform dense metal into an object of remarkable grace is a testament to his exceptional aesthetic vision and engineering skill. This work contains the very best qualities of Calder's mobiles: powerful yet graceful, dynamic yet ordered, with the sophisticated proportions that ensure such works always control their inhabited spaces. Ultimately, Red Nine embodies the profound joy Calder experienced in his artistic endeavors and the delight it imparted to its viewers. Calder himself eloquently remarked, "When everything goes right, a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprises" (A. Calder, Calder, London, 2004, p. 261). His audacious use of color, coupled with the dynamic movement of his creations, resulted in some of the most visually striking and significant artworks of the twentieth century.
As an engineer, poet and artist, Calder had a profound interest in the elements at play in our universe, such as movement, natural forms and color. Through sculpture, Calder sought to redefine the nature of art by taking it off the pedestal and breathing movement into its static form. Best known for his use of bold geometric forms, kinetic orchestration and animated movement, Calder was always careful to create works that offered the possibility of dynamic energy without being prescriptive about how they should move.
Purchased directly from Perls Galleries by Ellin and Bernhard Blumenthal, Red Nine has been closely held in their personal collection for decades. Executed in 1965, this particular example was created at a high point in the artist’s career, a time when he was realizing some of his most accomplished mobiles while also expanding his practice to produce monumental stabiles.
Formed by a cascade of nine red elements, as hinted in the work’s title, Red Nine reveals Calder's love for the color. The shade is animated by the gentle and mysterious movements of the mobile as it shifts, prompted by the changing atmospheric conditions or a gentle push. Some of the forms are horizontal, some vertical, allowing for an extra play of light and variation within the effects that each element creates. This is heightened by the spindly red wire from which the various fin-like forms hang. For Calder, color was not a representational force, but rather an emotional one, in much the same way as the historical pioneers in non-traditional use of color, such as Henri Matisse and Andre Derain. As Calder himself once exclaimed: “I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red…. I often wish that I’d been a fauve in 1905.” (A. Calder, quoted in H. H. Arnason and U. Mulas, Calder, London, 1971, p. 69).
Suspended in mid-air, the constellation of enigmatic shapes and motifs of these dangling forms recall the silhouettes of summer swallows soaring through the sky or beautiful butterflies dancing in the air. Calder's skillful craftsmanship allows each piece to retain its inherent delineation while at the same time sustaining a harmonious sense of unity. Even the largest of the elements, which the artist used to maintain the physical balance of the overall work, retain a sense of lightness through the deft insertion of voids between these elements, creating the overall visual and physical agility that characterizes his best work. Red Nine may be considered both for its tangible parts—the sheet metal, wire and paint which comprise the present work—as well as for the atmosphere that it creates. Calder’s mobiles are timeless, for they are in constant dialogue with the present, responding to the unique conditions of one moment in time. This poetic play between form and space speaks clearly to Calder’s intuitive vision, his innate ability to forge form from material objects such that one feels as though each mobile is an organic force, a living being, in its own right.
The year 1965 marked a significant milestone in Alexander Calder's illustrious career. In January, the landmark retrospective of his work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum concluded, solidifying his status as one of the preeminent figures in the contemporary art world. Harry F. Guggenheim, in his foreword to the exhibition catalogue, lauded Calder as “America's greatest modern sculptor” (H. F. Guggenheim, foreword to Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., New York, 1964, p. 6). In that same year, prior to his departure for France, Calder engaged in discussions with the esteemed architect I. M. Pei regarding a monumental sculpture intended for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This collaboration resulted in the significant installation of La Grande voile (1965) that has graced the Cambridge campus since 1966.
“When everything goes right, a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprises.” – Alexander Calder
Much like Calder's other major works, Red Nine masterfully blends visual elegance with architectural sophistication. Its chromatic simplicity is set off by the complexity of its structure. Calder's ability to transform dense metal into an object of remarkable grace is a testament to his exceptional aesthetic vision and engineering skill. This work contains the very best qualities of Calder's mobiles: powerful yet graceful, dynamic yet ordered, with the sophisticated proportions that ensure such works always control their inhabited spaces. Ultimately, Red Nine embodies the profound joy Calder experienced in his artistic endeavors and the delight it imparted to its viewers. Calder himself eloquently remarked, "When everything goes right, a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprises" (A. Calder, Calder, London, 2004, p. 261). His audacious use of color, coupled with the dynamic movement of his creations, resulted in some of the most visually striking and significant artworks of the twentieth century.