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Untitled (maquettes for Smithsonian Gallery of Art Architectural Competition), 1939

Work

Untitled (maquettes for Smithsonian Gallery of Art Architectural Competition)

Date 1939
Media
Wood, sheet metal, wire, lead, and paint
Dimensions
7 1⁄2" × 3 3⁄4" × 2 1⁄2”; 9 1⁄8" × 6" × 5 1⁄4"; 9 1⁄2" × 6" × 1 5⁄8"; 7" × 2" × 2"; 10 1⁄4" × 3 3⁄4" × 2 3⁄4"; 9 1⁄2" × 3" × 1 1⁄2"
Collection
Calder Foundation, New York; Mary Calder Rower Bequest, 2011
Standing Mobile
Related exhibitions  4
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
Dominique Lévy Gallery, New York (2015)

Dominique Lévy Gallery, New York. Alexander Calder: Multum in Parvo. 22 April–13 June 2015.

Solo Exhibition
Centro Botín, Santander, Spain (2019)

Centro Botín, Santander, Spain. Calder Stories. 29 June–3 November 2019.

Solo Exhibition
Pace Gallery, Los Angeles (2023)

Pace Gallery, Los Angeles. Calder/Tuttle:Tentative. 21 January–25 February 2023.

Solo Exhibition
Chronology  1
Spring 1939

Calder creates six maquettes to complement architect Percival Goodman’s design for the Smithsonian Gallery of Art Architectural Competition, sponsored by the Smithsonian Gallery of Art Commission. Goodman is awarded second place to Eliel Saarinen, and the

project goes unrealized.

Archive
Works / Standing Mobile 266
Little Mobile for Table’s Edge (c. 1939)
Little Mobile for Table's Edge, c. 1939
Black Petals (1939)
Black Petals, 1939
Little Spider (c. 1940)
Little Spider, c. 1940
Untitled (c. 1940)
Untitled, c. 1940
Related Timeline
1937–1945
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.