Ann Coxon

Sérgio B. Martins

Penelope Curtis

A. S. C. Rower

Alex J. Taylor

Marko Daniel

Thomas Fichter

Vassilis Oikonomopoulos

An insightful new look at one of the 20th century's most celebrated artistic visionaries Alexander Calder (1898-1976) is one of modernism's most captivating and influential figures. First trained as a mechanical engineer, Calder relocated from New York to Paris in the mid-twenties where his acceptance into the city's burgeoning avant-garde circles coincided with the development of his characteristic form of kinetic sculpture. His early work Cirque Calder, which was presented throughout Paris to great acclaim, prefigures the performance and theatrical aspects that dominate Calder's pioneering artistic works and are situated as a primary subject of intrigue in this publication. Rather than simply refashion sculpture's traditional forms, Calder envisioned entirely new possibilities for the medium and transformed its static nature into something dynamic and responsive. Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture provides detailed insight into that pioneering process through reproductions of personal drawings and notes. Also featured is new research from a wide range of renowned scholars, furthering our understanding of the remarkable depth of Calder's beloved mobile sculptures and entrenching his status as an icon of modernism.

Performing Sculpture

Alexander Calder

Mark Rosenthal

Alexander Calder (1898-1976) is a key presence in the history of modern art, and yet he is rarely seen or remembered in the context from which he initially emerged as an artist. When Calder became "Calder" - well known for his signature mobiles and stabiles - it was due to a unique variety of presiding influences. His artistic parentage consisted of Marcel Duchamp, who provided the name of and concept for the mobi≤ Piet Mondrian, who introduced pure abstraction to him; and Joan Miró, who communicated the central theses of Surrealism. Although Calder went on to play a major role in Surrealist manifestations during the formative years of the movement, including being shown in the defining 1936 "Exposition surréaliste d'objets" in Paris, he has since been separated from those beginnings. Indeed, at this point in time, Calder is never included in exhibitions of Surrealist art, even though he was incubated by that phenomenon and contributed mightily to it. This book will put the artist back in midst of Surrealism so that his achievement is more profoundly understood within that context. Works by artists such as Miró, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, and René Magritte will delineate the Surrealist milieu and some of its chief aspects. The following theses are also explored: Calder's wit, caricature, and linear flights of fancy; his marvelous personages and fantastic creatures; biomorphic forms from an imaginary vision of nature; and his constellations, apparent views of celestial space.

The Surreal Calder

Judith Farley Upjohn

Barbara Friedman

Alice in Ribbons

Holton Rower

Calder Jewelry features more than 450 bracelets, brooches, necklaces, and rings, photographed in still life by Maria Robledo. Also included are Calder's inventory drawings, boxes he made to transport and store the jewelry, historic photographs of his exhibitions and of jewelry worn by notable collectors and artists, and an extensive chronology. Essays discuss the relationship of these objects to the artist's other endeavors and in relation to the history of adornment.

Calder Jewelry

Jed Perl

Herbert Matter

John T. Hill

Given unprecedented access to Calders work and life during the course of their friendship, acclaimed photographer and graphic designer Herbert Matter captured Calders sculptures, the artist at work in his studio and at home with his family in Roxbury, Connecticut. Calder by Matter includes original essays by esteemed art critic and Calder biographer Jed Perl, Calder Foundation President and Calder grandson Alexander S. C. Rower (editor of the volume), and Matter student and colleague John T. Hill (designer of the volume). This unique collection of over 300 images, many of which are published here for the first time, offers a new perspective on Calders oeuvre, life, and creative process. Calder by Matter has been published in direct collaboration with the Calder Foundation.

Calder by Matter

A. S. C. Rower

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