.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
Held in the same private collection for the past twenty-five years, Alexander Calder’s Big Horizontal Red is a monumental example of one of the most iconic American art forms. Measuring nearly ten feet across, the bold sweeps of vibrant red dominate the space which it occupies, resulting in a dynamic and constantly changing form. Executed in one of the artist’s favorite colors, this form evokes the forms from that Calder admired so much. From fiery Sumac leaves to birds soaring on rising thermals, Calder saw inspiration everywhere. Executed in 1956, the present work was created during an important period for the artist when he began to develop larger and more complex works that showcased his extraordinary abilities.
In Big Horizontal Red, four elongated arms suspend a series of red horizontal elements that appear to float in mid-air. Sometimes hanging singularly, and at other times clustered in groups of two or three, these substantial metal pieces appear weightless as they shift and turn in the slightest breeze. In a work such as this, Calder assembles a more complex arrangement of components as the eight floating elements jostle together in close proximity without ever coming into direct physical contact with each other. As each individual element plays its unique role, Calder uses the bold statement of his red pigment to unify his composition. Color was paramount to Calder’s art, and he used it either to differentiate elements, or in the case of the present work to bring them together. “I love red so much,” Calder once said, “that I almost want to paint everything red. I often wish that I'd been a fauve in 1905” (A. Calder, quoted in H. Mulas & H.H. Arnason, Calder, London, 1971, p. 69).
Alexander Calder’s larger-scale works are the culmination of a lifelong dedication to redefining the physical and aesthetic nature of sculpture. Having spent his career introducing notions of color and movement into the previously static and monochromatic medium, the artist found new inspiration by devoting his greatest efforts to this exciting new phase of his career. Calder had become increasingly attracted to larger scale works because they allowed him to work on a different set of processes and challenges, “There has been an agrandissement in my work,” Calder said in 1960. “It’s true that I’ve more or less retired from the smaller mobiles. I regard them as just fiddling. The engineering on the big objects is important…..” (quoted in M. Prather, Alexander Calder 1898-1976, exh. cat., Washington, D.C., 1998, p. 279).
The ability to create works which appear to dance before us is due, in part, to Calder’s early training. Coming from a family of artists—both his father and grandfather were accomplished sculptors, and his mother was a professional portrait painter—Calder initially decided to study mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1915. He discovered he had a propensity for mathematics and took a number of jobs as a hydraulic engineer and draughtsman after graduation. However, after a few years he decided to indulge in his innate passion for art and moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and he established a studio in the Montparnasse district of the city. While in Paris, Calder visited Piet Mondrian’s studio and met and became friends with a number of avant-garde artists, including Fernand Léger, Jean Arp, Joan Miró, and Marcel Duchamp.
This experience helped to contribute to his revolutionary approach to art. One of Calder’s most accomplished works from this period, the present work is an exemplary example of the artistic form that would come to dominate the rest of his career. His innovative use of color, movement and organic forms infused new life into a genre that had—literally—been static for millennia. Big Horizontal Red is the result of both Calder’s unfettered imagination and his unparalleled technical skill. His unique ability to produce works that contain both aesthetic and kinetic dynamism marks him out as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century.
In Big Horizontal Red, four elongated arms suspend a series of red horizontal elements that appear to float in mid-air. Sometimes hanging singularly, and at other times clustered in groups of two or three, these substantial metal pieces appear weightless as they shift and turn in the slightest breeze. In a work such as this, Calder assembles a more complex arrangement of components as the eight floating elements jostle together in close proximity without ever coming into direct physical contact with each other. As each individual element plays its unique role, Calder uses the bold statement of his red pigment to unify his composition. Color was paramount to Calder’s art, and he used it either to differentiate elements, or in the case of the present work to bring them together. “I love red so much,” Calder once said, “that I almost want to paint everything red. I often wish that I'd been a fauve in 1905” (A. Calder, quoted in H. Mulas & H.H. Arnason, Calder, London, 1971, p. 69).
Alexander Calder’s larger-scale works are the culmination of a lifelong dedication to redefining the physical and aesthetic nature of sculpture. Having spent his career introducing notions of color and movement into the previously static and monochromatic medium, the artist found new inspiration by devoting his greatest efforts to this exciting new phase of his career. Calder had become increasingly attracted to larger scale works because they allowed him to work on a different set of processes and challenges, “There has been an agrandissement in my work,” Calder said in 1960. “It’s true that I’ve more or less retired from the smaller mobiles. I regard them as just fiddling. The engineering on the big objects is important…..” (quoted in M. Prather, Alexander Calder 1898-1976, exh. cat., Washington, D.C., 1998, p. 279).
The ability to create works which appear to dance before us is due, in part, to Calder’s early training. Coming from a family of artists—both his father and grandfather were accomplished sculptors, and his mother was a professional portrait painter—Calder initially decided to study mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1915. He discovered he had a propensity for mathematics and took a number of jobs as a hydraulic engineer and draughtsman after graduation. However, after a few years he decided to indulge in his innate passion for art and moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and he established a studio in the Montparnasse district of the city. While in Paris, Calder visited Piet Mondrian’s studio and met and became friends with a number of avant-garde artists, including Fernand Léger, Jean Arp, Joan Miró, and Marcel Duchamp.
This experience helped to contribute to his revolutionary approach to art. One of Calder’s most accomplished works from this period, the present work is an exemplary example of the artistic form that would come to dominate the rest of his career. His innovative use of color, movement and organic forms infused new life into a genre that had—literally—been static for millennia. Big Horizontal Red is the result of both Calder’s unfettered imagination and his unparalleled technical skill. His unique ability to produce works that contain both aesthetic and kinetic dynamism marks him out as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century.