Alexander Calder American, 1898-1976
Alexander Calder is internationally renowned for his innovative kinetic 'mobiles' and stationary 'stabiles', ingenious sheet metal sculptures executed in both small and monumental scale. The son of artists, Calder began creating art at a young age, and after receiving a university degree in engineering, moved to New York City in 1923 to enroll at the Art Students League. A part-time job in journalism brought Calder to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and when he moved to Paris in 1926 to study at Académie de la Grande Chaumière this inspired him to create the whimsical Cirque Calder, a cast of minute figurines crafted from wire, leather and cloth, that he could pack into a trunk and hold captivating performances by manipulating the forms. Calder continued working with wire, fashioning portraits of friends and cultural figures, gaining notoriety that earned him exhibitions at galleries in New York, Paris and Berlin. In 1931, Calder created his first kinetic sculptures, initially powered by motors but later powered only by wind currents to move these breathtaking suspensions. Returning to the United States in 1933, in this prodigious decade Calder began creating large-scale, bolted, outdoor sheet metal sculptures. His works were exhibited at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, and he soon earned many public commissions. During the war years, Calder ingeniously began working with wood and wire to create his 'constellations'. From the 1940s onwards, Calder primarily focused on large-scale commissions, many important museum exhibitions, and showing with his long-time dealers Curt Valentin and later Perls Galleries in New York and Galerie Maeght in Paris. In his lifetime retrospectives were held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1943; the Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 1964; Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, in 1969; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 1976. Calder is also recognized for his extraordinary paintings, prints, theater set design, jewelry, tapestries and rugs.
Calder's work is included in major public and private collections around the world, including the Tate Modern, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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Art Basel Hong Kong
23 - 25 Mar 2023Ben Brown Fine Arts is thrilled to return to Art Basel Hong Kong 2023 (Booth 3D11), with a curated presentation highlighting the gallery’s stable of...Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
1 - 3 Dec 2022Ben Brown Fine Arts is thrilled to be returning to Miami to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach , from 29 November to 3 December,...Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach 2021
2 - 4 Dec 2021Art Basel Miami Beach art fair 2021. We will be presenting a curated booth highlighting the gallery's stable of international contemporary artists, including Yoan Capote, Vik Muniz, José Parlá and Hank Willis Thomas. Another section of the booth will be designated for an historical exhibition of eminent post-war artists including Miquel Barcelo, Georg Baselitz, Alighiero Boetti, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Enrico Castellani, Lucio Fontana, Robert Indiana, Jeff Koons, Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne, Roy Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter, Sean Scully and Andy Warhol.Read more -
The Armory Show
9 - 12 Sep 2021Ben Brown Fine Arts is thrilled to participate live in The Armory Show in New York,9-12 September 2021. Our booth will unveil recent and important works by the gallery's stable of New York, London and Cuba-based contemporary artists, including Yoan Capote, Awol Erizku, Vik Muniz, Nabil Nahas, José Parlá, Enoc Perez, Ena Swansea, Hank Willis Thomas and Gavin Turk. The curated selection will include quilts, paintings, photographs and sculptures straight from the artists' studios, illuminating the engaging and innovative practices of the gallery's diverse and talented team of contemporary artists.Read more -
Art Basel OVR:20c
Dimension of Space: Alexander Calder and Lucio Fontana 30 - 31 Oct 2020Preview days: 28-30 October 2020 Dimension of Space explores the legacy of two major artists, transatlantic contemporaries and visionaries who developed a radical approach to...Read more