Archive
See highlights from 1946–1952 on the timeline International Distinction
Works
Exhibitions 82
1946
Balloon (1946). Written by Padraic Colum; mobile set by Calder.
Theatrical PerformanceDetroit Institute of Arts, Michigan. Origins of Modern Sculpture. 22 January–3 March 1946.
Group ExhibitionCity Art Museum of St. Louis. Origins of Modern Sculpture. 30 March–1 May 1946. Originated from Detroit Institute of Arts.
Group ExhibitionClay Club Gallery, New York. Benefit: Exhibition and Sale of Sculpture to Help Raise Funds for the Sculpture Center. 15 April 1946.
Group ExhibitionArt Institute of Chicago. 57th Annual American Exhibition, Water Colors and Drawings. 6 June–18 August 1946.
Group ExhibitionThe Museum of Modern Art, New York. Modern Jewelry Design. 18 September–17 November 1946.
Group ExhibitionCincinnati Modern Art Society. 4 Modern Sculptors: Brancusi, Calder, Lipchitz, Moore. 1 October–15 November 1946.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Louis Carré, Paris. Alexander Calder: Mobiles, Stabiles, Constellations. 25 October–16 November 1946.
Solo ExhibitionArt Center Gallery, University of Indiana, Bloomington. Modern Sculpture. 12 November–10 December 1946.
Group Exhibition1947
Boyd-Britton Associates, Chicago. 1947.
Solo ExhibitionPortland Art Museum, Oregon. 7–29 January 1947.
Solo ExhibitionJohn Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis. 9 February–16 March 1947.
Group ExhibitionSan Francisco Museum of Art. Alexander Calder. 17 February–16 March 1947. Originated from Portland Art Museum, Oregon.
Solo ExhibitionMattatuck Historical Society, Waterbury, Connecticut. Alexander Calder. 10–28 March 1947.
Solo ExhibitionKunsthalle Bern, Switzerland. Calder, Léger, Bodmer, Leuppi. 4–26 May 1947.
Group ExhibitionThe Stable, New Haven, Connecticut. Alexander Calder. 26 May 1947.
Solo ExhibitionPalais des Papes, Avignon. Exposition de peintures et sculptures contemporaines. 27 June–30 September 1947.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Maeght, Paris. Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme. 7 July–30 September 1947.
Group ExhibitionStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Alexander Calder / Fernand Léger. 19 July–24 August 1947.
Group ExhibitionArt Center Gallery, University of Indiana, Bloomington. Sculptors’ Drawings and Small Sculptures. 17 November–25 December 1947.
Group ExhibitionBuchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York. Alexander Calder. 9–27 December 1947.
Solo ExhibitionWadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. Painting Toward Architecture. 11 December 1947–3 January 1948.
Group Exhibition1948
Institute of Contemporary Arts, Washington, D.C. 1948.
Solo ExhibitionMilwaukee Art Institute, Wisconsin. Painting Toward Architecture. 7 May–6 June 1948. Originated from Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Denise René, Paris. Sculptures/Peintures. 21 May–23 June 1948.
Group ExhibitionVenice. XXIV Biennale di Venezia. 6 June–30 September 1948.
Group ExhibitionCalifornia Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco. Painting Toward Architecture. 1 July–1 August 1948. Originated from Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
Group ExhibitionMinistério da Educação e Saúde, Rio de Janeiro. Alexander Calder. September 1948.
Solo ExhibitionMuseu de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil. Alexander Calder. October–November 1948. Originated from Ministério da Educação e Saúde, Rio de Janeiro.
Solo ExhibitionKnoedler Galleries, New York. Painting Toward Architecture. 2–20 November 1948. Originated from Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
Group ExhibitionGalerie d’Art Moderne, Basel. Calder, Picasso, Steinwender. December 1948–January 1949.
Group ExhibitionBuchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York. Alexander Calder Recent Mobiles, 1948. 11 December 1948–3 January 1949.
Solo ExhibitionInstitute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Painting Toward Architecture. 16 December 1948–15 January 1949. Originated from Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
Group ExhibitionThe Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. A Comparison of Primitive and Modern: 40,000 Years of Modern Art. 20 December 1948–29 January 1949.
Group Exhibition1949
Happy As Larry (1949). Written by Donagh MacDonagh; directed by Burgess Meredith; mobile sets by Calder.
Theatrical PerformancePalazzo Strozzi, Florence. La Collezione Guggenheim. 19 February–10 March 1949.
Group ExhibitionMuseu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil. Figurativismo ao Abstracionismo. 8–31 March 1949.
Group ExhibitionPhiladelphia Museum of Art in collaboration with Fairmount Park Art Assocation. Third International Exhibition of Sculpture. 15 May–11 September 1949.
Group ExhibitionSalon des Réalités Nouvelles, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris. 22 July–28 August 1949.
Group ExhibitionGiardino del Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venice, Italy. Mostra di Scultura Contemporanea: Presentata da Peggy Guggenheim. September 1949.
Group ExhibitionThe Museum of Modern Art, New York. Modern Art in Your Life. 5 October–4 December 1949.
Group ExhibitionMargaret Brown Gallery, Boston. Calder. 25 October–12 November 1949.
Solo ExhibitionVirginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Calder and Sculpture Today. 28 October–11 December 1949.
Group ExhibitionBuchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York. Calder. 30 November–17 December 1949.
Solo ExhibitionMusée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Formes utiles, objets de notre temps. December 1949.
Group Exhibition1950
Institute of Contemporary Arts, Washington, D.C. 1950.
Solo ExhibitionJudith (1950). Performed by Martha Graham and Louisville Orchestra. Columbia Auditorium.
Theatrical PerformanceThe Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Painting Toward Architecture. 8 January–2 February 1950. Originated from Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Denise René, Paris. Denise René présente quelques aspects de l’art d’aujourd’hui. 13 January–1 February 1950.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Denise René, Paris. Espaces Nouveaux. 1 April–1 May 1950.
Group ExhibitionMemorial Union, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Painting Toward Architecture. 23 May–14 June 1950. Originated from Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Maeght, Paris. Calder: Mobiles & Stabiles. 30 June–27 July 1950.
Solo ExhibitionStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Alexander Calder. 6 October–15 November 1950. Originated from Galerie Maeght, Paris.
Solo ExhibitionGalerie Blanche, Stockholm. Alexander Calder: Mobiles and Stabiles. December 1950. Originated from Galerie Maeght, Paris.
Solo ExhibitionNew Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Calder. 5 December 1950–14 January 1951.
Solo ExhibitionBuchholz Gallery, New York. The Heritage of Auguste Rodin, An Exhibition Assembled in Honor of the Diamond Jubilee of The Philadelphia Museum of Art. 6 December 1950–6 January 1951.
Group Exhibition1951
The Lefevre Gallery, London. Mobiles and Stabiles by Alexander Calder. January 1951. Originated from Galerie Maeght, Paris.
Solo ExhibitionStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Surréalisme + Abstraction / Surrealisme + Abstractie. 19 January–26 February 1951.
Group ExhibitionThe Museum of Modern Art, New York. Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America. 23 January–25 March 1951.
Group ExhibitionThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The 75th Anniversary Exhibition of Painting & Sculpture by 75 Artists Associated with the Art Students League of New York. February–April 1951.
Group ExhibitionInstitute of Contemporary Arts, Washington, D.C. Sculptures by Alexander Calder. 17 April–2 June 1951.
Solo ExhibitionNeue Galerie, Vienna. Alexander Calder. 10 May–15 June 1951. Originated from Galerie Maeght, Paris.
Solo ExhibitionContemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Calder–Miró. 14 October–4 November 1951.
Group ExhibitionMuseo de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil. I Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo. 20 October–December 1951.
Group ExhibitionPalais de Charlottenborg, Copenhagen. Klar Form. 8–26 December 1951.
Group Exhibition1952
Curt Valentin Gallery, New York. Alexander Calder: Gongs and Towers. 15 January–10 February 1952.
Solo ExhibitionAllen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio. Calder Mobiles. 15 January–5 February 1952.
Solo ExhibitionMargaret Brown Gallery, Boston. Alexander Calder: Gongs and Towers. 10–29 March 1952.
Solo ExhibitionNucléa (1952). Written by Henri Pichette; directed by Jean Vilar; sets and costumes designed by Calder; music by Maurice Jarre.
Theatrical PerformanceGalerie Maeght, Paris. Alexander Calder: Mobiles. 6–10 May 1952.
Solo ExhibitionGalerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany. Calder Mobile. 5–20 June 1952.
Solo ExhibitionVenice. XXVI Biennale di Venezia. 14 June–19 October 1952.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Rudolf Hoffmann, Hamburg, Germany. Alexander Calder: Mobiles–Stabiles. 28 June–15 July 1952. Originated from Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany.
Solo ExhibitionModerne Galerie Otto Stangl, Munich. Alexander Calder / Joan Miró. 18 July–28 August 1952. Originated from Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany.
Group ExhibitionOverbeckgesellschaft, Lübeck, Germany. 30 August–14 September 1952. Originated from Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany.
Solo ExhibitionWürttembergischer Kunstverein und der Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany. Mobiles. 25 September–15 October 1952. Originated from Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany.
Solo ExhibitionArt Center Gallery, University of Indiana, Bloomington. Modern Sculpture. 10 October–6 November 1952.
Group ExhibitionPhiladelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park Art Association. Sculpture of the Twentieth Century. 11 October–7 December 1952.
Group ExhibitionGalerie der Spiegel, Cologne. Alexander Calder–Mobile. 16 October–29 November 1952. Originated from Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany.
Solo ExhibitionGalerie la Hune, Paris. Permanence du Cirque. 18 November–9 December 1952.
Group ExhibitionGalerie Springer, Berlin. Alexander Calder: Mobile. 1 December 1952–6 January 1953. Originated from Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany.
Solo ExhibitionYale University Art Gallery, New Haven. In Memory of Katherine S. Dreier 1877–1952: Her Own Collection of Modern Art. 15 December 1952–1 February 1953.
Group ExhibitionHistorical Photos 124
Chronology 109
When Sartre visits Calder again at his studio in New York, the artist gives him Peacock, a mobile whose elements are cut from flattened 1940 Connecticut license plates.
Calder 1966, 188–89
Thomas Emery’s Sons, Inc., commissions Calder to create a mobile, Twenty Leaves and an Apple, for the Terrace Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
CF, project fileThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with twenty-nine illustrations by Calder and an essay by Robert Penn Warren, is published in New York by Reynal and Hitchcock.
CF, project file“Origins of Modern Sculpture” is presented at the Detroit Institute of the Arts and travels to the City Art Museum of St. Louis.
CF, exhibition fileThe Calders take a road trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and visit Edna and Keith Warner.
CF, Warner correspondenceThe Clay Club Gallery, New York, presents “Benefit: Exhibition of Sale of Sculpture to Help Raise Funds for the Sculpture Center” and includes a standing mobile by Calder.
CF, exhibition file
Calder inquires with Willard whether she would be interested in having him make jewelry in gold, a material with which he is interested in working: I’d like to make some stuff in gold—but it makes a larger investment—shall we get into that racket?
CF, Calder to Willard, 12 MayCalder takes his first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris to prepare for the exhibition at Galerie Louis Carré, Paris.
CF, passport
The exhibition at Galerie Louis Carré is delayed and Calder returns to New York.
Calder 1966, 189; MoMA, Calder to Valentin, 6 AugustCalder and Louisa attend the premiere of Pádraic Colum’s play Balloon with mobile sets by Calder, performed at the Ogunquit Playhouse, Maine.
CF, Calder to Warner, JulyIn a series of letters, Calder and Keith Warner begin discussing the terms of Calder creating gold jewelry for Warner’s wife: Would it be a fair proposition if I asked, as recompense, that you buy me an equal amount of gold? I have been wanting to make some more things of gold for Louisa and for
the kids (as “heirlooms”) but never seem to be able to afford the gold.
Calder holds a performance of Cirque Calder in the family’s Roxbury studio for his daughters. I have to show the children how to run it so that they can carry on.
CF, Calder to Warner, 30 AugustCalder’s jewelry is included in the large group exhibition “Modern Jewelry Design” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Over the next two years, the show travels to museums in fifteen different cities throughout the United States.
CF, exhibition file
Calder returns to Paris.
CF, passportCalder stays at Hôtel de Versailles, Paris.
CF, object file“4 Modern Sculptors: Brancusi, Calder, Lipchitz, Moore” is presented at the Cincinnati Modern Art Society.
CF, exhibition file
“Alexander Calder: Mobiles, Stabiles, Constellations” is on view at Galerie Louis Carré, Paris. Henri Matisse attends the exhibition. Along with photographs by Matter, the catalogue includes two essays—Sartre’s “Les Mobiles de Calder” and Sweeney’s “Alexander
Calder.”
Jean Painlevé films Calder’s works in Paris. It is his second motion picture footage of mobiles in motion.
CF, project fileCalder sails from Le Havre to New York on the John Ericsson.
Calder 1966, 194; CF, passportIrving Penn photographs Calder in Roxbury.
CF, photography file1947
Calder’s work is on view at the Portland Art Museum, Oregon.
CF, exhibition fileThe Mirós and their daughter, Dolores, arrive in the United States. So I drove the LaSalle (open, top down) straight to La Guardia, and got there just in time. So we installed them in a little apt. on 1st Ave. (very nice), and then had a bite at Matisse’s.
CF, Calder to Warner, 15 FebruaryThe San Francisco Museum of Art exhibits Calder’s work.
CF, exhibition fileThe Mirós arrive at the Calders’ home in Roxbury for a visit.
SM, Miró to Sandberg, 7 MarchCalder performs Cirque Calder at his home in Roxbury for the Mirós; Henri Seyrig (Director of the Institut Français d’Archéologie); and Henrique and Helena Mindlin.
SM, Miró to Sandberg, 7 March; CF, Calder 1955–56, 155Mattatuck Historical Society, Connecticut, presents “Alexander Calder.”
CF, exhibition fileMiró celebrates his and Sandra’s birthday with the Calders at their apartment on East Seventy-second Street, New York. He gives Sandra a drawing and she gives the Mirós an ink and collage butterfly. Calder presents Miró with a mobile personage made of animal bones.
ASCR conversation with Mary Calder Rower, 16 November 1997
Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, presents “Calder, Léger, Bodmer, Leuppi.”
CF, exhibition file
Calder trades the mobile Polygones noirs for Miró’s Femmes et oiseaux dans la nuit, a painting related to Miró’s mural for the Terrace Plaza Hotel.
CF, object fileThe Stable, New Haven, Connecticut, exhibits “Alexander Calder.”
CF, exhibition fileCalder exhibits Explosive Object in the “Exposition de peintures et sculptures contemporaines,” Palais des Papes, Avignon.
CF, exhibition file“Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme” is organized by Breton and Duchamp for Galerie Maeght, Paris. Calder contributes a mobile and produces a lithograph for the catalogue, Le Surréalisme en 1947.
The Calders visit Long Island.
CF, Calder to Warner, 2 July; CF, Calder to Valentin, 15 JulyCarl Van Vechten photographs Calder.
CF, object file“Alexander Calder / Fernand Léger” is presented at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
CF, exhibition fileHans Richter’s film, Dreams That Money Can Buy, is finally released after being in production since 1945. Two sequences are made with Calder’s collaboration: “Ballet,” the fifth dream, and “Circus,” the sixth dream. The film wins the International Award for Best Original Contribution to the
Progress of Cinematography at the Venice Film Festival.
Calder rebuilds the “Big Room” in his Roxbury house. We are rebuilding the room which burned four years ago (where we sat last time you were here). Over the next year, Calder raises the roof about five feet and installs steel sash windows in the southeast wall.
CF, Calder to Warner, 13 December“Alexander Calder” is on view at Buchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York.
CF, exhibition file
Calder’s daughter Mary has a painful molar extracted on Christmas Day. Calder takes the tooth and memorializes it in a silver wire, caged pendant, which he gives to her for Christmas.
ASCR conversation with Mary Calder Rower, 8 August 20071948
Quadrangle Press publishes Selected Fables with etchings by Calder. Jean de La Fontaine is editor.
CF, object fileCalder exhibits his work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Washington, D.C.
Lipman 1976, 334Calder meets Burgess Meredith, who later visits the Calders in Roxbury to discuss making a film about Calder and his mobiles. Calder suggests Matter as the cinematographer.
Calder 1966, 197Calder accepts Mindlin’s invitation to visit Brazil.
Calder 1966, 199For the XXIV Biennale di Venezia—the first Biennale of the postwar period—Calder’s Arc of Petals is included in a presentation of Peggy Guggenheim’s collection curated by art historian Giulio Carlo Argan.
CF, exhibition fileThe Calders drive to the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Reno, and Lake Tahoe, where they spend two weeks with Kenneth and Peggy Hayes. After driving to Berkeley, they leave Sandra and Mary with the Hayes family, and fly to Los Angeles.
Calder 1966, 198–99; ASCR conversation with Mary Calder Rower, 23 October 1997Louisa’s mother, Louisa Cushing James, dies.
Calder 1966, 255Calder and Louisa arrive in Mexico City, where they stay at the Hotel Prince. They visit with Fernando Gamboa, director of the Museo de Bellas Artes, and with filmmaker Luis Buñuel and his family.
Calder 1966, 198–99Calder and Louisa arrive in Panama. I insisted on taking Louisa in a taxi to Panama City, to see the crazy traffic and open buildings I had seen sixteen years before, when a fireman on the S.S. Alexander.
Calder 1966, 198–99Calder and Louisa arrive in Trinidad.
Calder 1966, 198–99; CF, passportFrom Trinidad, the Calders fly to Belém, Brazil. On the plane they meet writer John Dos Passos.
CF, passport; Calder 1966, 199Calder and Louisa arrive in Rio de Janeiro.
CF, passportThe Ministerio da Educaçao e Saude presents “Alexander Calder.” The catalogue includes “Les Mobiles de Calder” by Sartre, “Alexander Calder” by Mindlin, and statements by Breton, Nancy Cunard, and Sweeney.
CF, exhibition file
Museu de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil, presents “Alexander Calder.”
CF, exhibition fileThe Calders throw a farewell party before departing Rio de Janeiro. Calder improvises decorations and hangs them on the wall. Heitor Dos Praceres (Hector of the Pleasures), a Negro painter and friend of ours, had an excellent samba band, so we decided that they should come sixteen strong …The party took place
in the little house where I worked. Two days before, Lota wrote to Eugenio [Lage] in New York, saying that if he did not see any objection we would have a party there.
The Calders embark from Rio de Janeiro for the United States.
CF, passportIn Berkeley, Calder and Louisa are reunited with their children. The family spends a week with the Hayes family before driving back across country with side trips to Sante Fe, New Mexico, and Texas.
Calder 1966, 204; CF, passport; ASCR conversation with Mary Calder Rower, 23 October 1997Buchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York, presents “Alexander Calder Recent Mobiles, 1948.”
CF, exhibition fileCalder exhibits a work on paper in “A Comparison of Primitive and Modern: 40,000 Years of Modern Art” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
CF, exhibition file1949
Calder creates mobiles for Symphonic Variations, choreographed by Tatiana Leskova with music by César Franck. The dance is performed in Rio de Janeiro.
CF, object fileMuseu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, presents “Do Figurativismo ao Abstracionismo” and includes five works by Calder.
CF, exhibition fileUpon returning home from Brazil, Calder crafts a large brooch for Henrique Mindlin’s wife, Helena. The brooch is in the form of a figa—a hand with the thumb curled under the forefinger—a symbol of luck in Brazil. Thank you, thank you, thank you ever so much for the most beautiful figa I have ever
seen. You managed to make many females terribly envious of me, and this makes me oh! so happy! Calder eventually makes at least twenty pieces of jewelry in the figa motif, nearly all as gifts for family and friends.
Calder constructs his most ambitious mobile to date, International Mobile, for the Third International Exhibition of Sculpture, Philadelphia Museum of Art in collaboration with the Fairmount Park Art Association.
CF, exhibition fileCalder builds a house for his mother on the Roxbury property.
CF, photography file; CF, Nanette to Calder, 6 May
“Calder” is presented at the Margaret Brown Gallery, Boston.
CF, exhibition fileThe Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, presents “Calder & Sculpture Today,” with works by Jean Arp, Alexander Archipenko, Constantin Brancusi, Calder, and Alberto Giacometti, among others.
CF, exhibition fileBuchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York, exhibits “Calder.” The catalogue includes “The Studio of Alexander Calder” by Masson and illustrations by Calder of the objects exhibited.
CF, exhibition file1950
Happy As Larry, a play written by Donagh MacDonagh and directed by Burgess Meredith with sets by Calder, opens in New York at the Coronet Theatre.
CF, project fileThe Calder family sails from New York on the Ile de France and arrives in Le Havre.
CF, passportIn Paris, the Calders rent an apartment for four months on rue Penthièvre from their friend, Médé Valentine.
CF, passport; Calder 1966, 204; CF, Calder to Warner, 5 FebruaryGalerie Maeght, Paris, exhibits “Calder: Mobiles & Stabiles.” Calder, encouraged by Christian Zervos (publisher of Cahiers d’Art) to exhibit at Galerie Maeght, also illustrates the catalogue and the exhibition poster. The Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, purchases a mobile
and the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, purchases Le 31 Janvier.
The Calders travel around France visiting the caves of Lascaux, and Ritou Nitzschke and André Bac in La Roche Jaune, Brittany.
Calder 1966, 206; Lipman 1976, 334The Calders leave Paris and take a train to Antwerp. From there, the family takes a Finnish ship Arcturus to Helsinki.
CF, passportThe Calders visit Maire Gullichsen, who takes them to her villa, Mairea, in Norrmark for a week. From there, one day, we took a five-hour trip to see the Bjoerkenheims, who have one of the few remaining big farms in the north of Finland.
Calder 1966, 206–207The Calders leave from Turku, Finland, and take a boat to Stockholm, arriving the next day. They stay in the Grand Hotel and visit Eric Grate, a Swedish sculptor.
CF, passport; Calder 1966, 208Departing Malmö, Sweden, the Calders take a train through Denmark and Germany, and arrive in Paris.
CF, passport; Calder 1966, 208The Calders depart Paris for Antwerp, set sail the next day on the Europa, and arrive in New York.
CF, passport; Calder 1966, 208Matter photographs Calder’s Roxbury studio and home.
CF, photography fileCalder is selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best children’s book illustrators of the last fifty years.
New York Times, 12 NovemberMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, exhibits “Calder,” a retrospective. Sweeney installs the exhibition while Calder recovers from an automobile accident.
CF, exhibition file; Calder 1966, 209
1951
After two years of production, Works of Calder previews at the Museum of Modern Art. The film was directed by Matter and produced and narrated by Burgess Meredith, with music by John Cage.
CF, project fileCalder participates in a symposium, “What Abstract Art Means to Me,” at the Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with their exhibition “Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America.” The idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different
colors and temperatures, and surrounded and interlarded with wisps of gaseous condition, and some at rest, while others move in peculiar manners, seems to me the ideal source of form.
Calder performs Cirque Calder at the Sert’s home in Lattingtown, New York.
MS, photography collection; CF, correspondence fileInstitute of Contemporary Arts, Washington, D.C., exhibits “Sculptures by Alexander Calder.”
CF, exhibition fileIn Washington, D.C., Calder sees Jean Davidson, a friend he had first met in 1944, and invites him to visit Roxbury.
Calder 1966, 212Eero Saarinen writes to Calder proposing a commission for a sculpture and fountain at the General Motors Technical Center, Warren, Michigan. Calder suggests a fountain without any sculpture.
CF, Saarinen to Calder, 15 August; CF, Saarinen to Tykle, 28 September
Calder presents Cirque Calder in Roxbury.
CF, correspondence fileCage’s score for Works of Calder wins first prize at the Art Film Festival in Woodstock.
CF, project fileContemporary Arts Museum, Houston, presents “Calder–Miró.”
CF, exhibition file1952
Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, exhibits “Alexander Calder: Gongs and Towers.” The catalogue texts are “Alexander Calder’s Mobiles” by Sweeney and “Calder” by Léger, with drawings by Calder of the objects exhibited.
CF, exhibition file
Calder arrives in Paris and stays with Paul Nelson.
CF, passport; CF, Calder and Nelson to Louisa, 19 MarchI must have met Henri Pichette at lunch with Giacometti in Paris. Now he wanted me to decorate his new play: Nucléa
Calder 1966, 209–210Calder designs the sets and costumes for Nucléa, written by Henri Pichette. The costumes include two large silver necklaces and a silver bracelet.
CF, project file; Calder 1966, 209–10
Calder and Louisa attend the opening of Nucléa at the Théâtre du Palais de Chaillot, Paris. Directed by Jean Vilar with music by Maurice Jarre, the play is performed by Théâtre National Populaire.
CF, project file; Calder 1966, 210Galerie Maeght, Paris, exhibits “Alexander Calder: Mobiles.”
CF, exhibition fileThe Calders visit Masson and his family in Aix-en-Provence. They ask Masson to find them a house to rent for the following year. From Aix-en-Provence they travel to Varengeville.
Calder 1966, 210–11; Lipman 1976, 334
Louisa flies from Paris to New York. Calder leaves Paris on 30 May and arrives in Italy to prepare his works for the XXVI Biennale di Venezia.
CF, passportCalder returns to Paris.
CF, passportCalder flies from Paris and arrives in New York.
CF, passportCalder represents the United States in the XXVI Biennale di Venezia. Sweeney installs the exhibition and writes a short text for the exhibition catalogue. Calder wins the Grand Prize for sculpture.
CF, exhibition file
Calder accepts the commission from Carlos Raúl Villanueva, whom he met through Sert in 1951, to design an acoustic ceiling for Aula Magna, the auditorium of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He collaborates with the engineering firm Bolt, Beranek, and Newman,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Bibliography 192
1946
“Alexander Calder.” Arts & Architecture, vol. 63, no. 1 (January 1946).
MagazineColeridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1946.
Illustrated BookBouxin, Andre. “Forme et Architecture.” Techniques et Architecture, nos. 9–10 (1946).
MagazineDetroit Institute of Arts, Michigan. Origins of Modern Sculpture. Exhibition catalogue. 1946.
Group Exhibition CatalogueCity Art Museum of St. Louis, Missouri. Origins of Modern Sculpture. Exhibition catalogue. 1946.
Group Exhibition Catalogue“Alexander Calder.” Current Biography, vol. 7, no. 4 (April 1946).
MagazineWarren, Robert Penn. “A Poem of Pure Imagination: Reconsiderations VI.” The Kenyon Review, vol. VIII (Summer 1946).
Magazine“Drawings in Black and White.” Partisan Review (Summer 1946).
MagazineArt Institute of Chicago. 57th Annual American Exhibition, Water Colors and Drawings. Exhibition catalogue. 1946.
Group Exhibition CatalogueRichter, Hans. “Le Cinéma Américain d’Avant-garde.” Style en France, no. 4 (July–September 1946).
Magazine“Paris Still Art World Center, Says Calder.” Waterbury Republican, 11 August 1946.
NewspaperCincinnati Modern Art Society, Ohio. 4 Modern Sculptors: Brancusi, Calder, Lipchitz, Moore. Exhibition catalogue. 1946.
Group Exhibition CatalogueSartre, Jean-Paul. “Mobiles.” Berkeley, no. 2, Fall/Winter 1946.
NewspaperGalerie Louis Carré, Paris. Alexander Calder: Mobiles, Stabiles, Constellations. Exhibition catalogue. 1946.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Les Mobiles de Calder
Solo Exhibition CatalogueChevalier, Denys. (Publication unknown), 1 November 1946.
NewspaperDuche, Jean. “Jean-Paul Sartre: Patron des ‘Mobiles’ d’Alexandre Calder.” Cavalcade (c. November 1946).
MagazineEstienne, Charles. “Un fabricant d’espace: Alexandre Calder.” Combat, 30 October 1946.
NewspaperGuichard, Jean. “La sculpture remue.” Temps Présent, no. 114, 1 November 1946.
NewspaperLimbour, Georges. “Les Mobiles d’Alexandre Calder.” (Publication unknown), c. November 1946.
NewspaperMcCausland, Elizabeth. “American Painting and Sculpture in the Metropolitan and Whitney Collections.” Magazine of Art (November 1946).
MagazineDiehl, Gaston. “Les plaisirs de la matière.” Libératon-Soir, 8 November 1946.
NewspaperBarotte, René. “Les sculptures de l’apprenti-sorcier Calder palpitent au souffle d’un wentilateur: ce sont des ‘mobiles’ explique Jean-Paul Sartre.” Quatre et Trois, 14 November 1946.
NewspaperEinstein, William. “Art News in Paris.” New York Herald Tribune, 18 November 1946.
Newspaper“Modern Handmade Jewelry, from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.” Arts & Architecture, vol. 63, no. 11 (December 1946).
Magazine1947
“The Bellman’s Song.” Child Life, vol. 26, no. 1 (January 1947).
Magazine“Exposition d’Art Moderne au Palais des Papes à Avignon.” Cahiers d’Art (1947).
MagazinePayne, Elizabeth H. “A Space Modulator by Moholy-Nagy and Mobile by Calder.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. 26, no. 1 (1947).
MagazineSix Artists (1947). Footage compiled by Hans Richter. Black-and-white, silent; 0:48 min. This segment shows Calder performing Cirque Calder.
FilmBreit, Harvey. “Coleridge’s Strange Hierarchy of the Damned.” New York Times, 5 January 1947.
NewspaperMattatuck Historical Society, Waterbury, Connecticut. Alexander Calder. Exhibition catalogue. 1947.
Solo Exhibition CatalogueHill, Lyall H. “Calder Show Fresh and Exciting.” Waterbury Republican, 16 March 1947.
NewspaperCunard, Nancy. “Arts Parallel: A Note on Calder, Léger and Vilato.” Jazz Forum, no. 4 (April 1947).
MagazineSchneider-Lengyel, I. “Alexander Calder, der Ingenieur-Bildhauer.” Prisma (Munich), vol. 1, no. 6 (14–15 April 1947).
MagazineBouxin, A. “Portraits.” Style en France, vol. 2, no. 5 (15 April 1947).
MagazineGiedion, Siegfried. “The Hammock and Alexander Calder.” Interiors, vol. 106, no. 10 (May 1947).
MagazineKunsthalle Bern, Switzerland. Calder, Léger, Bodmer, Leuppi. Exhibition catalogue. 1947.
Group Exhibition Catalogue“Modern Art for Cincinnati.” Art Digest (5 May 1947).
MagazinePalais des Papes, Avignon. Exposition de peintures et sculptures contemporaines. Exhibition catalogue. 1947. Texts by Fernand Léger and Christian Zervos.
Group Exhibition CatalogueStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Alexander Calder / Fernand Léger. Exhibition catalogue. 1947.
Group Exhibition CatalogueGalerie Maeght, Paris. Le Surréalisme en 1947. Exhibition catalogue. 1947. Edited by André Breton and Marcel Duchamp.
Group Exhibition Catalogue“Enriching U. S. Museums.” Art News, vol. 46, no. 6 (August 1947).
Magazine“Make it from a Pattern–and Make it in Suede.” Harper’s Bazaar (August 1947).
MagazinePayne, Elizabeth H. “Mobile by Calder.” Detroit Institute Bulletin, vol. 26 (September 1947).
MagazineM. L. S., “Squares.” The Ambassador, no. 9 (September 1947).
MagazineNew Yorker (6 September 1947).
Magazine“Calder.” Arts & Architecture, vol. 64, no. 10 (October 1947).
MagazineVeronesi, Giulia. “Braque, Picasso, Calder.” Emporium, vol. 106, nos. 635–636 (November–December 1947).
MagazineBuchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York. Alexander Calder. Exhibition catalogue. 1947. Text by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Solo Exhibition CatalogueNew York Sun, 12 December 1947.
NewspaperDevree, Howard. “Calder and Two ‘Firsts.’” New York Times, 14 December 1947.
NewspaperGibbs, Jo. “It May Not Be Sculpture, But It’s Vital.” Art Digest, vol. 22, no. 6 (15 December 1947).
MagazineDreams That Money Can Buy (1947). Sponsored by Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century, New York. Films International of America, New York. 16mm, color, sound (English); 85 min. Produced and directed by Hans Richter, assisted by Miriam Reaburn; cinematography by Arnold Eagle; music by Louis Applebaum.
Film1948
La Fontaine, Jean de. Selected Fables. Translated by Eunice Clark. New York: Quadrangle Press, 1948.
Illustrated BookWadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. Painting Toward Architecture. Exhibition catalogue. 1948.
Group Exhibition CatalogueJanis, Harriet. “Mobiles.” Arts & Architecture, vol. 65, no. 2 (February 1948).
Magazine“Balance the Silhouette.” Harper’s Bazaar (March 1948).
Magazine“Barroom Art in the Modern Manner.” Architectural Forum, vol. 88 (April 1948).
MagazineTodd, Ruthven. “An Illuminated Poem: Alexander Calder.” Here and Now (Toronto), vol. 1, no. 2 (May 1948).
MagazineXXIV Biennale di Venezia. Exhibition catalogue. 1948.
Group Exhibition CatalogueCalder, Alexander. “The Ides of Art: 14 Sculptors Write.” The Tiger’s Eye, vol. 1, no. 4 (15 June 1948).
MagazineMuseu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Ministerio da Educaçao e Saude. Alexander Calder. Exhibition catalogue. 1948. Texts by Henrique E. Mindlin, André Breton, and Nancy Cunard; reprinted texts by Jean-Paul Sartre and James Johnson Sweeney.
Solo Exhibition CatalogueDa Silveiro, Paulo. “Ao correr da pena: a musica oscilatoria das imagens.” (Publication unknown), c. September 1948.
Newspaper“Calder Apresenta-se ao Público do Brasil.” O Globo, c. September 1948.
NewspaperPedrosa, Mario. “A maquina, Calder, Léger e outros.” Politica e Letras, 16 September 1948.
NewspaperLessa, Elsie. “Calder, o artista criancão.” O Globo, 20 September 1948.
NewspaperBardi, P. M. “Calder e os ‘mobiles’ em proxima exposicao.” Diário de São Paulo, 26 September 1948.
Newspaper“Arrival in Cincinnati.” Fortune (October 1948).
MagazinePedrosa, Mario. “Introdução a Alexander Calder.” Diário de São Paulo, 31 October 1948.
Newspaper“Alexander Calder’s New Illustrations for La Fontaine’s The Hare and the Ban on Horns, translated by Eunice Clark.” Art News (September 1948).
MagazineThe Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. A Comparison of Primitive and Modern: 40,000 Years of Modern Art. Exhibition catalogue. 1948. Preface by Herbert Read; texts by W.G. Acher and Robert Melville.
Group Exhibition CatalogueSoby, James Thrall. “Three Humorists: Klee, Miró, Calder.” Contemporary Painters. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1948.
Art History Reference1949
Masson, André. “L’atelier de Calder.” Cahiers d’Art, vol. 24, no. 2 (1949).
MagazineSoby, James Thrall. Calder, Matisse, Matta, Miró: Mural Scrolls. New York: Katzenbach and Warren, 1949.
Portfolio“Spectacular ‘Steel Fish’ Now at Home at Virginia Museum.” (Publication unknown), c. 1949.
Newspaper“Reviews and Previews.” Art News (January 1949).
Magazine“The Artistic Scene.” Harper’s Bazaar (February 1949).
MagazineSoby, James Thrall. “The Younger American Artists.” Harper’s Bazaar (February 1949).
MagazinePalazzo Strozzi, Florence. La Collezione Guggenheim. Exhibition catalogue. 1949.
Group Exhibition CataloguePringle, Ann. “Artists Murals For Your Walls.” New York Herald Tribune, 22 February 1949.
NewspaperRich, Daniel Catton. Magazine of Art (March 1949).
MagazineMuseu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil. Do Figurativismo ao Abstracionismo. Exhibition catalogue. 1949. Introduction by Sergio Milliet; text by Léon Dégand.
Group Exhibition CatalogueSoby, James Thrall. “Calder, Matisse, Miró, Matta.” Arts & Architecture, vol. 66, no. 4 (April 1949).
MagazineLynes, Richard. “Everyday Tastes from High-Brow to Low-Brow are Classified on Chart.” Life Magazine, vol. 26 (4 April 1949).
Magazine“70 Sculptors 70: The World’s Biggest Sculpture Show Assembles Them and Their Statues in an Art Museum in Philadelphia.” Life Magazine, vol. 26 (20 June 1949).
Magazine“Stabiles.” Architectural Review (London), vol. 106, no. 632 (August 1949).
MagazinePilotis, no. 3 (September 1949).
MagazineGiardino del Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venice, Italy. Mostra di Scultura Contemporanea: Presentata da Peggy Guggenheim. Exhibition catalogue. 1949.
Group Exhibition Catalogue“The Steel Fish Swims South.” The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Members’ Bulletin, vol. 10, no. 2 (October 1949).
MagazineThe Museum of Modern Art, New York. Modern Art in Your Life. Exhibition catalogue. 1949.
Group Exhibition CatalogueHess, Thomas B. “Of arts and the man.” Art News, vol. 48 (6 October 1949).
MagazineDriscoll, Edgar J., Jr. “Exhibition of ‘Mobiles’ Mystifies or Fascinates.” Boston Sunday Globe, 30 October 1949.
NewspaperAdlow, Dorothy. “Alexander Calder’s Sculpture.” Christian Science Monitor, 31 October 1949.
Newspaper“Calders Carry on in Philadelphia.” Architectural Forum, vol. 91, no. 5 (November 1949).
Magazine“Calder Mobile Reels in Virginia.” Art News (November 1949).
MagazineBuchholz Gallery/Curt Valentin, New York. Calder. Exhibition catalogue. 1949. Text by André Masson.
Solo Exhibition Catalogue“Alexander Calder.” Art News, vol. 48, no. 8 (December 1949).
MagazineDrexler, Arthur. “Calder.” Interiors, vol. 109, no. 5 (December 1949).
MagazinePreston, Stuart. “New West, Old East.” New York Times, 4 December 1949.
NewspaperChanin, A. L. “Calder Creates a Gala Wonderland of Movement.” The Sunday Compass (4 December 1949).
MagazineFilms 1
1950
