- 32
Alexander Calder
Description
- Alexander Calder
- Tic Tac Toe
- incised with the artist's monogram on the largest element
- painted sheet metal and wire standing mobile
- 41 1/2 x 37 x 21 in. 105.4 x 94 x 53.3 cm.
- Executed in 1941, this work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York under application number A08746.
Provenance
Phyllis Teplitz, North Woodmere, New York (acquired in 1981)
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Gutner, North Woodmere, New York
Vivian Horan Fine Art, New York (acquired from the above in 1988)
Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Belgium (acquired from the above in 1989)
Christie's, New York, May 15, 2013, Lot 28
Acquired by the present owner from the above
Exhibited
Literature
Exh. Cat., New York, Pace Gallery, Calder 1941, 2011, p. 6, illustrated
Alexander Rower, Calder by Matter, Paris, 2013, p. 110, illustrated
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
As is quintessential of the artist’s endlessly fascinating corpus of kinetic abstractions, Tic Tac Toe presents itself to us anew each time we encounter it. Indeed, our very actions while in its midst create the environment that precipitates its unique movements at any given time; as we enter into the present work’s atmosphere our body comes to commune directly with its sculptural configuration: as we move around it we generate the conditions of its complementary movement in response. Marcel Duchamp had been the first to use the word ‘mobile’ in 1931 to describe Calder's revolutionary concept that defied traditional sculpture by utilizing the full potential of aesthetic forms in motion through his remarkable manipulation of metal and wire. Calder’s earliest wire sculptures – frequently portraits of well-known figures of the day – had caused a sensation when exhibited in Paris and New York during the late 1920s, yet the sculptor still sought the elusive breakthrough that would enable him to forge an entirely new form of artistic expression. The answer arrived during a now legendary visit to Piet Mondrian’s studio in 1930, where the sight of squares of colored paper, arranged on the wall in the manner of one of Mondrian’s paintings, inspired Calder to think of the kinetic possibilities of art. In an interview in 1932, Calder revealed his excitement at the extraordinary new creative world he was in the process of discovering: “Why must art be static?... You look at an abstraction, sculptured or painted, an entirely exciting arrangement of planes, spheres, nuclei, entirely without meaning. It would be perfect but it is always still. The next step in sculpture is motion.” (the artist cited in Howard Greenfield, The Essential Alexander Calder, New York, 2003, p. 67) Tic Tac Toe, executed in 1941, nine years after this groundbreaking realization, is archetypal in its unequivocal achievement of the goal which, established in Piet Mondrian’s studio, would come to serve as a basis for the entirety of Calder’s iconic exploration and redefinition of sculptural forms.