Calder Foundation

Devil Fish

Date 1937
Media
Sheet metal, bolts, and paint
Dimensions
68" × 64" × 47"
Collection
Calder Foundation, New York
Historical Photos  18
Related exhibitions  9
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York (1937)

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

Solo Exhibition
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1943)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions. 29 September 1943–16 January 1944.

Solo Exhibition
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (1950)

New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Calder. 5 December 1950–14 January 1951.

Solo Exhibition
Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil (1953)

Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil. II Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo. 15 December 1953–28 February 1954.

Group Exhibition
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1998)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Alexander Calder: 1898–1976. 29 March–12 July 1998.

Solo Exhibition
Storm King Art Center, Mountainville (2001)

Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York. Grand Intuitions: Calder’s Monumental Sculpture. 21 May 2001–15 November 2003.

Solo Exhibition
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (2016)

Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel. Alexander Calder & Fischli/Weiss. 29 May–4 September 2016.

Group Exhibition
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2019)

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor. 5 April–4 August 2019. Originated from Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Solo Exhibition
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Alexander Calder: Modern from the Start. 14 March 2021–15 January 2022.

Solo Exhibition
Chronology  1
23 February–13 March 1937

Calder’s first large-scale bolted stabiles, Devil Fish and Big Bird, are on view in “Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles” at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York.

Works / Monumental Sculpture 217
Works / Stabile 251
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.