Calder Foundation
Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions
29 September 1943–16 January 1944The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Related documents  22
Selected works  85
Selected publications  24

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Alexander Calder. Exhibition catalogue. 1943. Text by James Johnson Sweeney. Revised, enlarged, and issued as a monograph in 1951.

Solo Exhibition Catalogue
Alexander Calder (1951)

Sweeney, James Johnson. Alexander Calder. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951.

Monograph

Greenberg, Clement. “Alexander Calder: Sculpture, Constructions, Jewelry, Toys, and Drawings.” The Nation, no. 157 (23 October 1943).

Magazine

Frost, Rosamund. “Calder Grown Up: A Museum-Size Show.” Art News, vol. 42, no. 12 (1–14 November 1943).

Magazine

R., M. “Modern Opens Retrospective Show of Calder’s Light-Hearted Art.” Art Digest, vol. 18, no. 1 (1 October 1943).

Magazine

“Calder’s Circus.” Newsweek, vol. 22, no. 15 (11 October 1943).

Magazine

Jewell, Edward Alden. “Calder Sculpture on Display Today.” New York Times, 29 September 1943.

Newspaper

McBride, Henry. “The Age of Metal.” New York Sun, 29 October 1943.

Newspaper

Genauer, Emily. “Calder’s Mobiles and Other Shows of the Week.” New York World-Telegram, 2 October 1943.

Newspaper

Burrows, Carlyle. “The Calder Exhibition.” New York Herald Tribune, 3 October 1943.

Newspaper

Jewell, Edward Alden. “Calder in Retrospect.” New York Times, 3 October 1943.

Newspaper

Dreifuss, Jerome. “His Queer Metal Shapes Baffle Most Art Patrons.” Huntingdon News, 21 October 1943.

Newspaper

“Popular Art and Esoteric: Exhibitions of the Week Offer Wide Variety.” New York Sun, 1 October 1943.

Newspaper

“At the Museum of Modern Art.” Daily Worker, 16 October 1943.

Newspaper

“Unusual Exhibit By Alexander Calder.” The Villager, 11 October 1943.

Newspaper

McCausland, Elizabeth. “Alexander Calder at The Museum of Modern Art.” Springfield Sunday Union and Republican, 3 October 1943.

Newspaper

Bindol, Ben. “Art Events.” Aufbau, 15 October 1943.

Newspaper

Fordell, Hanson, and Francis T. Howe. “Squirrel Cage Art.” Cue (23 October 1943).

Magazine

McBride, Henry. “Seurat and Calder: Two Artists Much Loved by Their Biographers.” New York Sun, 31 December 1943.

Newspaper

Rogers, W. G. “Sculptor Works with Metals.” San Pedro News-Pilot, 18 October 1943.

Newspaper

Coates, Robert M. “The Art Galleries: Alexander Calder and Some Others.” New Yorker (9 October 1943).

Magazine

Tiers, Mary Lowber. “Down Mobile Way.” Cue, vol. 12, no. 42 (16 October 1943).

Magazine

“Alexander Calder.” Architectural Forum, vol. 80, no. 1 (January 1944).

Magazine

Alexander Calder: Sculpture and Constructions (1944). Produced by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 16mm, color, sound (English); 10 min. Written and narrated by Agnes Rindge Claflin; cinematography by Herbert Matter; filmed and recorded by Hartley Productions.

Film
Chronology  5
28 August 1943

Calder writes to Sweeney about his forthcoming retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. I forgot to show you this object. One swings the red (iron) ball in a small circle—this movement and the inertia of the rod and the length of thread develops a very complicated

pattern of movement. The impedimenta—boxes, cymbal, bottles, cans etc. add to the complication, and also add sounds of thuds, crashes, etc.—This is a reconstruction of one I had in Paris in ’33. I will bring it down and set it up for you to see. I call it the “Small Sphere and Heavy Sphere.”

20 September 1943

Arnold Newman photographs Calder at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

29 September 1943–16 January 1944

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, presents “Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions,” curated by Sweeney and Duchamp. Calder writes, Simplicity of equipment and an adventurous spirit in attacking the unfamiliar or unknown are apt to result in a primitive and

vigorous art. Somehow the primitive is usually much stronger than art in which technique and flourish abound. Originally scheduled to close on 28 November 1943, the exhibition is extended to 16 January 1944 due to public demand.

 

20–21 October 1943

Calder gives two performances of Cirque Calder in the Members Room of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, for friends and staff.

1944

Agnes Rindge Claflin writes and narrates Alexander Calder: Sculpture and Constructions, a film based on the retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Cinematography is by Matter.

Exhibitions / 1937–1945: Public Commissions and the War 6

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York. Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles. 23 February–13 March 1937.

George Walter Vincent Smith Gallery, Springfield, Massachusetts. Calder Mobiles. 8–27 November 1938.

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York. Calder. 14 May–1 June 1940.

Willard Gallery, New York. Calder Jewelry. 3–25 December 1940.

Related Timeline
1937–1945 Public Commissions and the War

In 1937, Calder completed Devil Fish, his first stabile enlarged from a model. He received two important commissions: Mercury Fountain (1937) and Lobster Trap and Fish Tail (1939). His first retrospective was held in 1938 at the George Walter Vincent Smith Gallery in Springfield, Massachusetts, followed by another in 1943 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.