Alexander Calder, Varèse, c. 1930. Wire, 13 3/4 × 11 5/8 × 14 1/2 in. (34.9 × 29.5 × 36.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 50th Anniversary Gift of Mrs. Louise Varèse in honor of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 80.25
In the book, "Art of the Twenties," published by the Museum of Modern Art, it is noted that the modern style was not without wit.
Do you see any examples of Calder's humor in his work? Do you see any similarities between Calder's work and the work
of his contemporary artists, Jean Arp and Paul Klee?
Alexander Calder was born in 1898 and was apparently a child of two artists (with his father being a sculptor and his mother being a painter. It is said that at first Alexander did not intend to become an artist (due to the fact that he went to the Stevens Institute of Technology). His inspiration for being an artist came later on in which he attended the Arts Students League in New York. His art consists mainly of sculptures and some paintings. In relation to the wire sculpture above it would seem that Calder depicts some form of humor by exploiting some of the feature of the person e sculpted. In this case this person has an exaggerated eyebrow and has a squinting expression which in itself may be described as humorous.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Calder had his first wire sculpture solo show in Paris at the Galerie Billiet. A visit to Piet Mondrian's studio inspired and shocked Calder embracing to make abstract art. He then began to make toys and made a miniature portable circus made from wire Calder made kinetic sculptures out of wire that was manipulated by cranks and pulley that was also known as his signature move.
ReplyDeleteHe had also created over 1800 pieces of jewelry over the years thats he had given to friends and relatives.He usually made them with brass and steel but also had some bits of ceremic,wood and glass pieces.
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