Alexander Calder

Giovanni Carandente, Rome (gift of the artist in 1967)
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1995

Château de Tours, Alexandre Calder en Touraine, June - October 2008, pp. 102 and 146, illustrated in color

Exh. Cat., Saint Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, Calder, 1969, cat. no. 250, illustrated

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. The elements move freely and smoothly. The red elements appear to have some surface dirt and scattered pinpoint black spot accretions and well as some minor evidence of spot retouching. The black, white and yellow elements exhibit some light surface abrasions and a few pinpoint spots of paint loss visible under close inspection. The wire has accumulated some oxidation in the loops. *Please note the auction begins at 9:30 am on November 14th.*
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 met the great Italian curator Giovanni Carandente at an exhibition at Galerie de l’Obelisco in Rome in 1956, beginning a deep friendship and professional relationship between the two men spanning several decades. After the opening, the two men went to dinner where Calder warmly and characteristically proceeded to create amusing drawings of Carandente’s face. The gesture not only produced a set of drawings which are preserved in the Civic Gallery of Modern Art in Spoleto but marked the start of a significant relationship not only for the two men but also for the development of Calder’s oeuvre and influence on Italian culture.  

Calder’s first ever monumental stabile was created at Carandente’s initiation. In 1962, Carandente was planning the exhibition Sculptures in the City in Spoleto which was the first endeavor placing modern sculptures in the streets and squares of the medieval town. Carandente asked Calder to create a sort of triumphal arch to be used as the introduction to the exhibition. The result was the prodigious Teodelapio which was installed on the train station square, the largest stabile Calder had produced to date and which remains in Spoleto, a gift of the artist to a city in which he had become an icon. Having seen the installation of the huge stabile in this urban setting, Calder desired to continue to create works of equal importance throughout Europe.

In 1968, the director of the Opera Theatre of Rome, Massimo Bogianckino, approached his friend Carandente with the idea for Calder to create stage set drawings. Carandente arranged a meeting for the two men and they met at Carandente’s home one evening. To Bogianckino’s proposal for Calder to create decorations and costumes for an opera or ballet, Calder replied: “I don’t have a real ballet in my head, but rather a performance without dancers.” The play which Calder entitled Work in Progress (and renamed privately My Life in Nineteen Minutes - the duration of the ballet) was an extraordinary, poetic production which included the three primary features of his art: mobiles, stabiles and brightly colored paintings. The performance included motifs found strung throughout his entire body of work including the moon, the sun, the sea, underwater fauna, birds and a harmonious, continual movement. The final crescendo presented dancing cyclists who appeared at full speed projecting large shadows onto the backdrop. The photograph on the present page illustrates Calder on stage at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma while Work in Progress rehearsed. The large standing mobile to Calder’s immediate right is the product of the maquette, lot 125 Red, Yellow, Blue (Maquette for Work in Progress), formerly in Carandente’s collection. Lot 124, La Mezza Luna Per un Lunatico, was also a gift of the artist to Carandente the year prior.

Carandente is largely responsible for introducing Italy to the radical idea that art could break forth from closed frames into three-dimensional space and engage the surrounding environment by contrast and analogy. Calder’s friendship with Carandente expanded the possibilities for his prodigious output including the development of monumental stabiles as well as the important performance Work in Progress.

Born in 1920, Carandente had an illustrious and influential career in the arts, working closely with Calder as well as many artists such as David Smith, Henry Moore and Eduardo Chillida, organizing many important exhibitions, including two Venice Biennales, and authoring the respective catalogues. Carandente authored 12 books and articles on Calder and curated the artist’s 1983 retrospective in Turin, Italy. He served on the board of the Calder Foundation until his death in 2009. Sotheby’s is honored to offer the following two lots, formerly in the collection of Giovanni Carandente.