Alexander Calder

Hans and Frida Richter, Southbury, Connecticut (gift of the artist)
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Directed by Hans Richter, 8 x 8: a Chess Sonata in 8 Movements, 1957, 16mm color sound, 81 minutes

This work is in good and sound condition overall. There is evidence of distressing to the metal, leather and wood, which is to be expected due to the work's age. There are some minor chips to the wood and the leather nose is slightly distorted from age. There is some dark staining to the wood over the eyes and under the nose. There is some light soiling to the fabric underneath the face and the black tape on the bottom is torn or has flaked off. The leather ears have been refabricated.
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.

Directed by Hans Richter, 8 x 8: a Chess Sonata in 8 Movements is a film which presents surrealist vision through cinema and is the result of a collaboration of artists including Alexander Calder, Jean Cocteau, Yves Tanguy, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Paul Bowles, Julian Levy, Jacqueline Matisse and Jose Sert. Described by Richter as “part Freud, part Lewis Carroll,” the film is a fairy tale for the subconscious based on the game of chess. As the title references the arrangements of squares on a chess board, the narrative is accordingly divided into eight chapters each directed by the different artists. Paying homage to Lewis Carroll’s use of chess in Through the Looking Glass, Richter creates a visually dazzling, heavily symbolic “game of chance and accidents, kings and pawns, retreats and successes—in short, the thousand and one combinations of life.” Richter continued, “What interested me is the poetry of images, the melody and rhythm of forms and colors.”

The present work, Mask for Film "8 x 8", was created by Calder for this unique artistic output. The mask features prominently within Calder’s chapter and embodies the artistic forces that influenced the artist in his early years working in Paris. The found elements - the tin cans, bells and leather - pay homage to the founders of Dada, Calder’s fellow artistic collaborators on the film. Fashioning the face from these unexpected, imaginary forms, Calder injects the work and the film with elements of Surrealism, whimsy and chance, simultaneously creating a work that is distinctively Calder and which echoes the basis of the film, a creative union of artistic masters of the early twentieth century.