Abstract Tempera oil on paper from Alexander Calder Size 81 x 63 cm (31.89 x 24.80 in) the overall size including the frame: 100x 80cm (39.37x31.50 in.)
Signature/ dated: Lower left
Provenance from a gallery on the back
Alexander Calder July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known as the originator of the mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture made with delicately balanced or suspended components which move in response to motor power or air currents. Calder’s stationary sculptures are called stabiles. He also produced numerous wire figures, notably for a miniature circus. In addition to sculptures, Calder painted throughout his career, beginning in the early 1920s. He picked up his study of printmaking after moving to Paris in 1926, and continued to produce illustrations for books and journals. His many projects from this period include pen-and-ink line drawings of animals for a 1931 publication of Aesop’s fables. As Calder’s sculpture moved into the realm of pure abstraction in the mid-1930s, so did his prints. The thin lines used to define figures in the earlier prints and drawings began delineating groups of geometric shapes, often in motion. Calder also used prints for advocacy, as in poster prints from 1967 and 1969 protesting the Vietnam War. As Calder’s professional reputation expanded in the late 1940s and 1950s, so did his production of prints. Masses of lithographs based on his gouache paintings hit the market, and deluxe editions of plays, poems, and short stories illustrated with fine art prints by Calder became available for sale. In 1975, Calder was commissioned to paint a BMW 3.0 CSL, which would be the first vehicle in the BMW Art Car Project. Calder died unexpectedly on November 11, 1976, shortly after opening a major retrospective show at the Whitney Museum in New York. In 14/05/2014 an oil/paper artwork from A.Calder name “Untitled (Cartoons for Centre Square Philadelphia Banners) was sold for hammer price 260 000$ USD by Christie's New-York USA.