The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Calder Jewelry. 8 December 2008–1 March 2009. Originated from the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Solo ExhibitionCalder makes a gold ring to present to Louisa James. I had known a little jeweler in Paris, Bucci, and he had helped me make a gold ring—forerunner of an array of family jewelry—with a spiral on top and a helix for the finger. I thought this would do for a wedding ring. But Louisa
merely called this one her “engagement ring” and we had to go to Waltham, near by, and purchase a wedding ring for two dollars.
Soon after moving to Paris in 1926, Calder created his Cirque Calder. Made of wire and a spectrum of found materials, the Cirque was a work of performance art that gained Calder an introduction to the Parisian avant-garde. He continued to explore his invention of wire sculpture, whereby he “drew” with wire in three dimensions the portraits of friends, animals, circus themes, and personalities of the day.
