Alexander Calder

Buchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York
Galerie Maeght, Paris
Perls Galleries, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in May 1966

New York, Buchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, Calder, November - December 1949, no. 13, p. 8, illustrated (with prepatory drawing)
Paris, Galerie Maeght, Calder: Mobiles and Stabiles, June - July 1950, no. 37
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Alexander Calder, October -November 1950, no. 29
Stockholm, Galerie Blanche, Alexander Calder: Mobiles and Stabiles, December 1950, no. 29
London, Lefevre Gallery, Mobiles and Stabiles by Alexander Calder, January 1951, no. 26
Vienna, Neue Galerie, Alexander Calder, May - June 1951, no. 26

This sculpture is in very good condition. On the inner side of one of the horizontal legs, there are three roughly circular areas of loss which reveal an underlayer of lighter, chalkier black, located from the outermost tip as follows: 10 ¼ to 12 inches (corresponding to the reverse of the artist's signature) 9 to 9 ¾ inches 7 ½ to 8 inches There is also the usual wear and slight loss on the black cantilever and white hanging elements as is to be expected in works of this age. Along both the jagged and smooth edges of the vertical portion of the base, there is accumulated retouching that has a shinier sheen than the surrounding paint.
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.

Alexander Calder, the artist credited with setting sculpture in motion, was best known for his invention of mobiles, his abstract creations of wood, wire and steel which dance gracefully through space. Born out of his engineering background that began with his degree in the 1920s from the Stevens Institute of Technology, Calder's fascination with kinetics spurred him to blur the boundaries of mechanics and art.

The present work, Extreme Cantilever is an eloquent summation of Calder's unerring sense of balance and engineering ability, expressed with great assurance even early in his artistic career. Executed in 1940, the sculpture takes its name from the architectural term describing a beam supported on one end and carrying a load on the other. Like the cantilevers found in buildings and bridges, the present work focuses on the concept of tensile stress and stability. Though firmly anchored by a metal base, the long arcing horizontal wire seems insufficient to bear the weight of the mobile elegantly dangling from its fingertip. A tour-de-force of weight distribution, Extreme Cantilever expressed a sense of both mass and fragility, harmony and peril that was wholly consistent with the modernist era.

In the late 1930s Calder's imagery gravitated away from the nuclei and spheres of Mirò-inspired Constellations from earlier in the decade toward a more organic vernacular that was wholly his own. As seen in the bent forms and curving silhouettes of Extreme Cantilever, Calder drew inspiration from plants and animals in the natural world, abstracting their shapes into sinuous lines. Furthermore, due to the paucity of steel during the wars, the present work is composed of scrap metal, which creates a natural surface texture that appears rough and grainy. Indeed Extreme Cantilever expresses not only the artist's technical prowess but also his interest in biomorphic formality and playful abstraction.