$471,000
Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) Untitled (Standing Mobile, c. 1965) Unsigned. Sheet metal, brass, wire, and paint, height 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm), width 5 in. (12.5 cm) including the mobile element, depth 2 3/4 in. (7.0 cm). Condition: Paint losses. Provenance: Purchased at a charity auction in Roxbury, Connecticut, approximately sixty years ago by Martin and Anne Wangh, through to the current owner by descent. N.B. This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, as application number A28062. By the 1960s, Alexander Calder had established a successful, international career as an artist. During that decade, he received numerous awards, exhibited his sculptures and paintings in gallery shows in New York and Paris and in museum retrospectives at the Tate Gallery in London, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris. At the same time, Calder maintained a very high rate of production, working on large-scale sculpture commissions as well as small works like this untitled standing mobile. Though born into a family of artists, Calder initially rejected an artistic career, choosing instead to study mechanical engineering. Ultimately, he conceded to his artistic roots and enrolled in the Art Students League in New York in 1923 and soon afterwards began making regular visits to Paris where he worked on and exhibited small, figurative wire sculptures. In Paris, Calder met fellow artists Joan Miró, Fe
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2017-01-27
