Alexander Calder

M Knoedler & Co Inc., New York
Great Northern Brokerage, Chicago
Constance Kamens Fine Art, New York
Gloria Cohen, Paris (acquired from the above in 1989)
Private Collection, Paris (acquired from the above in 1990)
Gloria Cohen, Paris (acquired from the above in 1999)
Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York (acquired from the above in 2000)
June Lee's Contemporary Art, Laguna Hill (acquired from the above in 2000)
Private Collection, Korea (acquired from the above in 2000)
Tina Kim Fine Art, New York
Private Collection, St. Moritz (acquired from the above in 2006)
JT Art Asset, London
Reiner Opoku, Berlin
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Barcelona, Mayoral Gallery, Miro/Calder, October 2014 - March 2015, p. 118, illustrated in colour; p. 119, illustrated in colour (detail)

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the yellow is slightly deeper in original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are a few spots of wear with associated specks of loss in places to the edges of some of the elements, as well as evidence of light oxidisation and tarnishing in places.
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Executed in 1975, when Alexander Calder was 77 years old and only one year before he passed away, Blue Counterweight – Two Spines is an extraordinary example of the artist’s inimitable creative genius. Seemingly uncomplicated in its combination of primary colours and basic shapes, the present work is in fact an exquisite demonstration of Calder’s dexterity with materials and a deep understanding of the technical and visual aspects of balance and harmony.

Having graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1919, the artist had unknowingly acquired a set of abilities that would permeate his work throughout his career; from his early mechanical toys and wire sculptures to the now iconic stabiles and mobiles, and later his grand scale public commissions. It was precisely his particular comprehension of the complexities behind the tensions and forces between each element in his sculptures that would allow the artist to radically revolutionise the sculptural medium.

By the 1970s, Calder was highly regarded internationally, having had exhibitions at major museums around the world, and worked on commissions for prestigious private and public institutions. During the last two decades of his life, the artist mostly concentrated on creating monumental works; projects that allowed him to expand and extrapolate the finesse and control of the smaller stabiles and standing mobiles onto a grand scale. However, whilst these greater structures took up much of his time, the artist could still be found at his studio, working on more domestic-sized works such as Blue Counterweight – Two Spines any day of the week. As art-historian Albert E. Elson recalled after visiting Calder’s studio in 1974 “Just the sight of his workbench, a multi-purpose operating table, battle field, and junk pile, helps one realize that he has set up the conditions for a daily dialogue with his materials. Surrounded by past works Calder stages the constant interrogation of himself, his materials, and art, about what he can use to realize new imagery and signs” (Albert E. Elson quoted in: Exh. Cat., Washington, National Gallery of Art (and travelling), Alexander Calder: 1898 – 1976, p. 280).

Indeed, Calder’s exploration of sculpture and its possibilities could almost be traced back to his childhood, when he collected wires and small sheets of metal, wood and other small objects to design toys for his family and friends. It was several years later, after a visit to Mondrian’s studio in Paris that the artist experienced what he would later remember as “the shock that started things” (Alexander Calder quoted in: Exh. Cat., Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Calder: Sculptr of Air, October 2009 – February 2010, p. 21). Mondrian’s studio walls were covered with rectangles of paper painted in blue, red and yellow, which would then make their way into the artist’s instantly recognizable compositions. Calder would later explain how he “thought at the time how fine it would be if everything there moved, though Mondrian himself did not approve of this idea at all. I went home and tried to paint. But wire, or something to twist or tear, or bend, is an easier medium for me to think in (Alexander Calder quoted in: James Johnson Sweeney, Alexander Calder, New York 1951, online). In Paris, Calder met some of the artists with whom he would continue to share thoughts and exchange ideas, such as Joan Miró, Jean Arp, or Jean Paul Sartre amongst others. It was there that the artist first discovered the language that he would completely transform and make his own, approaching the creation of sculpture in ways no one had ever imagined before.

Calder would continue to challenge the sculptural medium until the very end of his career. As his creations became greater and more daring, however, the artist never abandoned a more intimate, lyrical approach to his mobiles which is perfectly encapsulated by Blue Counterweight – Two Spines. Indeed, in its elegant and graceful composition, this work undeniably exemplifies the qualities that make Alexander Calder one of the most important artistic figures of the 20^th Century.