Alexander Calder
Dolmens, 1971
Gouache and ink on paper
75 x 110 cm
Copyright The Artist
This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A12986. Alexander Calder is widely known for his innovative approach to kinetic sculpture. His...
This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A12986.
Alexander Calder is widely known for his innovative approach to kinetic sculpture. His invention of the Mobile and Stabile radically shifted the medium of sculpture by removing the plinth, bringing movement to the form by allowing polychromatic light elements to swirl and catch the air or hang in perfect balance from wires.
Dolmens, 1971 is an exemplary gouache that transcribes Calder’s sculptural vocabulary of flat geometric forms painted in black, white, or bright primary colors. Gouache allowed Calder to work more immediately than large scale sculpture and offered him the possibility to explore certain aspects of his work while depicting more earthly subjects.
The title, Dolmens, alludes itself to a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, which dates from the early Neolithic, where large prehistoric stones were erected vertically to form a monument.
Alexander Calder is widely known for his innovative approach to kinetic sculpture. His invention of the Mobile and Stabile radically shifted the medium of sculpture by removing the plinth, bringing movement to the form by allowing polychromatic light elements to swirl and catch the air or hang in perfect balance from wires.
Dolmens, 1971 is an exemplary gouache that transcribes Calder’s sculptural vocabulary of flat geometric forms painted in black, white, or bright primary colors. Gouache allowed Calder to work more immediately than large scale sculpture and offered him the possibility to explore certain aspects of his work while depicting more earthly subjects.
The title, Dolmens, alludes itself to a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, which dates from the early Neolithic, where large prehistoric stones were erected vertically to form a monument.