Calder Foundation

Requin et Baleine

Date c. 1933
Media
Wood, rod, and paint
Dimensions
34" × 40 1⁄8" × 6 1⁄4"
Collection
Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Dation of the Estate of the Artist, 1983
Historical Photos  2
Related exhibitions  5
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1964)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition. 6 November 1964–31 January 1965.

Solo Exhibition
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris (1965)

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris. Calder. 8 July–15 October 1965. Originated from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Solo Exhibition
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France (1969)

Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. Calder. 2 April–31 May 1969.

Solo Exhibition
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2009)

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Alexander Calder: les années parisiennes 1926–1933. 18 March–20 July 2009. Originated from the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Solo Exhibition
Musée Picasso, Paris (2019)

Musée Picasso, Paris. Calder-Picasso. 19 February–25 August 2019.

Group Exhibition
Chronology  1
11 June–4 July 1936

Roland Penrose’s “International Surrealist Exhibition” at his New Burlington Galleries, London, includes two sculptures by Calder, among them Requin et Baleine. André Breton writes the preface to the catalogue.

Works / Standing Mobile 266
Related Timeline
1930–1936 Shift to Abstraction

Following a visit in October of 1930 to Piet Mondrian’s studio, where he was impressed by the environmental installation, Calder made his first wholly abstract compositions and invented the kinetic sculpture now known as the mobile. Coined for these works by Marcel Duchamp in 1931, the word “mobile” refers to both “motion” and “motive” in French. He also created stationary abstract works that Jean Arp dubbed “stabiles.”