Archive

Calder performs Cirque Calder in the Roxbury studio.

Frank Perls Gallery, Beverly Hills, exhibits “Alexander Calder Mobiles,” previously shown at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, from 22 March–19 April.

The Calder family arrives at Le Havre after an eight-day voyage on the Flandre. Also on board is Ernest Hemingway. He appeared suddenly and I presented myself, but it was not much use. For I had nothing to say to him and he had nothing to say to me. And that went for Louisa too.

The Calders visit Jean Davidson in the Loire Valley. Jean has purchased a mill house Moulin Vert, in the tiny town of Saché.

Daughter Sandra goes to live in Paris.

Calder leaves Aix for Paris to begin filming Cirque de Calder, directed by Jean Painlevé.

Calder visits Jean and sees his renovated mill house in Saché. Calder agrees to a trade of three mobiles for François Premier, a dilapidated seventeenth-century stone house built adjoining a cliff on Jean’s property.

Calder rigs a studio in Jean’s mill and creates the mobiles. Through the winter, Jean organizes the renovation of François Premier and converts the wagon shed into a studio. A second small building across the street serves as the “gouacherie,” a painting studio.

Calder plans a trip to Beirut to visit his friend Henri Seyrig and to make the mobile commissioned by Middle East Airlines.

The Calder family travels on the Greek steamship Aurelia from Marseilles to Greece, where they spend the day in Athens.

The Calders stop in Alexandria, Egypt.

The Calders arrive in Beirut after a stop in Limassol, Cyprus. They reside with the Seyrigs for a month, visiting Syria and Jordan by car.

American University, Beirut, exhibits works Calder made during the last month.

The Calder family visits Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The Calders leave Beirut by plane and return to Aix.

Calder leaves Paris, traveling through Amsterdam to Hanover, where an exhibition of his work is scheduled to open at the Kestnergesellschaft.

Kestnergesellschaft exhibits “Alexander Calder: Stabiles, Mobiles, Gouaches.”

Calder returns to Paris.

Louisa and daughter Mary sail from Le Havre to New York.

Calder flies from Paris to New York; daughter Sandra remains in France.

The renovation of François Premier is completed.

Calder returns to France, arriving in Le Havre.

Calder leaves Paris and arrives in New York.

A visa is issued for the Calders’ trip to India. Calder and Louisa have been invited by Gira Sarabhai, an architect and designer, to a tour of India in exchange for works of art.

Calder and Louisa leave New York and arrive in Paris.

En route to Bombay, Calder and Louisa fly from Paris to Beirut. They visit the Seyrigs and show the film Works of Calder at the American University.

After visiting Patna, the Calders arrive in Kathmandu in Nepal.

The Calders leave Kathmandu for Patna from which they visit Delhi and Jaipur before returning to Bombay.

Calder has a private exhibition in Bombay of the works he has made in India. He contracts pneumonia and stays a few extra days to recover.

The Calders leave Bombay, returning to Paris via Cairo and Athens.

The Calders fly from Paris to New York.

Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay, exhibits Calder’s work.

Calder gifts Varda a mobile for photographing him and his work over the years. I asked Foinet to give you a mobile—your choice—among many, of a medium size that I left at the studio.

Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, exhibits “Alexander Calder.” Calder agrees to hold the show as scheduled, in spite of Valentin’s death the previous year. Nothing sells.

Calder arrives in Caracas. He sets up a studio at the metal shop of the Universidad Central de Venezuela and sees Acoustic Ceiling installed in Aula Magna for the first time. Louisa plans to join Calder in Caracas, but a tornado hits Connecticut and causes extensive flooding; she

Calder leaves Caracas, arriving in New York en route to Roxbury.

The Calders arrive in France for the marriage of their daughter, Sandra, to Jean Davidson.

The Calders return to France by car.

From Paris, the Calders take a train to Brussels. They fly to New York and return to Roxbury.

Pantheon Books publishes A Bestiary, edited by Richard Wilbur, with illustrations by Calder.

Perls Galleries, New York, exhibits “Calder.” This is Calder’s first show with his new dealers, Klaus and Dolly Perls.

The Calders arrive in France.

The Calders drive to Italy, entering via Ponte S. Luigi. While in Rome they stay at the foot of the Janiculum Hill, where Calder sets up a studio.

Galleria dell’Obelisco, Rome, presents “Calder,” which travels to Galleria d’Arte del Naviglio, Milan, and Circolo della Cultura e delle Arti, Trieste.

The Calders leave Italy for France.

The Calders leave Paris, arriving in New York en route to Roxbury.

The Calders arrive in Paris en route to Saché.

The Calders’ grandson, Shawn Davidson, is born in Tours, France, to Sandra and Jean Davidson.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, exhibits “Jewelry and Drawings by Alexander Calder.” Forty-one pieces of jewelry are exhibited.

The Calders fly from Paris to New York.

Frank Perls Gallery, Beverly Hills, exhibits “Alexander Calder.”

Calder attends the screening of 8×8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements at the Museum of Modern Art. Directed by Hans Richter, the film brings together Arp, Paul Bowles, Calder, Cocteau, Duchamp, Kiesler, Jacqueline Matisse, Sert, and Tanguy, among others.

The Committee of Art Advisors at UNESCO approves Calder’s maquette for a standing mobile. Titled Spirale, the mobile top is made by Calder at Segré’s Iron Works in Connecticut and the stabile bottom is made with the collaboration of Jean Prouvé in France.

Illustrator Réne Bouché draws a portrait of Calder with Louisa and daughter Mary in Roxbury.

At Waterbury Iron Works in Connecticut, Calder finishes the mobile commissioned by the Port Authority of New York. He initially titles it .125, the gauge of the aluminum elements, although the work is later dubbed Flight. The mobile is placed in a storeroom near the International Arrivals

The Calders and daughter Mary arrive in Paris.

The family arrives in Spain for a visit with Peter Bellew (writer) and his wife Ellen. They also visit Artigas, a ceramicist, in Gallifa (Barcelona) before returning to France.

The Calders and daughter Mary leave Paris for London.

The Calders and daughter Mary leave London and arrive in New York.

Perls Galleries, New York, exhibits “Calder, Recent Works.”

Calder builds a second studio in Roxbury.

The Glory Folk, a ballet choreographed by John Butler with sets by Calder, is performed during the “Festival of Two Worlds,” Spoleto, Italy. Calder flies to Spoleto to oversee the construction of his sets.

The Calders arrive in Paris.

The Calders arrive in New York.

Calder goes to Paris to arrange a solo exhibition at Galerie Maeght.

Calder leaves Paris.

Calder leases an apartment for daughter Mary at 20 Jones Street in New York City.

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, exhibits “Alexander Calder, Stabilen, Mobilen.” The catalogue texts are “Stabiles” by Georges Salles and “Calder und die mobiles” by Willem Sandberg. The exhibition travels to Hamburg, Krefeld, Mannheim, Wuppertal, and Zurich.

Calder and Louisa host dinner at their home in Roxbury in honor of the AICA (International Association of Art Critics) XIth General Assembly.

The Calders arrive in the Netherlands.

The Calders arrive in Le Bourget, France.

The Calders receive a visa from the Brazilian Consulate in Paris.

The Calders depart Paris and arrive in Rio de Janeiro, where they spend a month at the Gloria Hotel. During their stay, they visit Brazil’s new capital, Brasília.

The Calders leave Brazil.

Calder is elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, and is inducted on 25 May.

The Calders return to Brazil for the Carnaval.

The Calders leave Brazil, returning to the United States.