Alexander Calder

Perls Galleries, New York
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf, Chicago (acquired from the above in 1974)
Christie's, London, June 30, 1994, lot 45
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
Sotheby's, London, October 24, 1996, lot 47
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

New York, Perls Galleries, Alexander Calder: Crags and Critters of 1974, October - November 1974, cat. no. 7, p. 7, illustrated
London, Helly Nahmad Gallery, Love, March - May 2000, cat. no. 29, illustrated in color
Beverly Hills, Gagosian Gallery, Alexander Calder, May - June 2003
New York, Hammer Galleries, Objects in Space: Léger, Miró, Calder, November 2012 - January 2013, pp. 71 and 87, illustrated in color

This work is in good and sound condition overall. There are light and scattered surface abrasions to the crag piece, which are visible under close inspection, and also two spots of light rubbing. There is evidence of light wear to the hanging elements and wires, resulting in light surface abrasions and spots of paint loss to the wire and to the edges of the elements. The white hanging elements exhibit networks of hairline craquelure.
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 is one of the most celebrated and revered sculptors of the Post-War era. Disciplined, curious, and clever, Calder suspended lively constellations, ingeniously freeing the state of sculpture from its static plinth. Energized by the Surrealist work of his Parisian contemporaries, Calder began sculpting with wires and metal in the 1930s to create his radical mobiles, which took on organic and biomorphic forms that continued throughout his career, the influence of which is evident in the present work, Crag with Red Heart from 1974.

When Calder and his wife Louisa moved to Roxbury, Connecticut, he was inspired by the open space and changing seasons. Converting an old ice house and later a barn into studios, Calder started to expand the scale of his projects and created outdoor sculpture. Over the following decades, Calder worked fastidiously to master the industrial medium of painted metal and transformed scraps into complex and delicate sequences, to remarkable result. By the end of his life in the 1970s, Calder was a true master of his medium, deftly forming the tiniest standing mobile to monumental sculpture.

In 1974, Perls Galleries exhibited 15 works in a show called Alexander Calder: Crags and Critters of 1974, in which the present work, Crag with Red Heart, was included. The 15 works in the exhibition included cartoon-ish, three-legged anthropomorphic “critters” and the mountainous “crags” with delicately balanced elements weaving through the peaks and valleys of the sculptures. Illustrated in the front of the exhibition catalogue, the 15 works are pictured together in the gallery. This arrangement, like the works themselves, is emblematic of Calder's personality, forming a fantastical world of Calder's invention for the viewer to experience. The crag sculptures seem almost other-worldly; their sloping black metals sprout stems of floating elements. One of the most elegant and playful examples from the series, Crag with Red Heart has the whimsical addition of a graceful red heart suspended on one side of the black crag, counterbalanced by three flat-topped white elements. Hearts are a recurring theme in Calder’s oeuvre, seen in some of his most intimate creations, such as a standing mobile for his wife Louisa or a sweet red hanging mobile for his daughter Mary. The heart in the present work adds a lighthearted quality, emphasizing Calder’s zest for life and love for those around him.

Though it is traditionally Calder’s early work that is associated with Surrealism, the crag sculptures recall coinciding interests of artists such as Joan Miró, Hans Arp, Max Ernst and Yves Tanguy. The planar forms of the sheet metal evoke a dreamscape like that depicted by Yves Tanguy in The Satin Tuning Fork from 1940. Both represented for an overlapping period of time by dealer Pierre Matisse in New York, Calder and Tanguy soon became close friends and enjoyed a symbiotic friendship resulting in mutual influence and admiration. As Susan Davidson notes, “Biomorphism, as practiced by Tanguy and Calder, is at the heart of both movements. Tanguy’s rock forms are not merely dreamscapes; they evoke the passage of time and echoes of a mythical, druidic past, qualities that resonate with the gentle movements generated by air passing through Calder’s similarly shaped, 'abstract' mobiles.” (Susan Davidson, “Shared Visions: The Friendship of Yves Tanguy and Alexander Calder” in Exh. Cat., New York, L&M Arts, Tanguy Calder: Between Surrealism and Abstraction, April - July 2010, p. 23) Calder’s 1974 Crag with Red Heart perfectly epitomizes Calder’s version of biomorphic abstraction, perhaps even an homage to his good friend Yves Tanguy.