Spanning the entire career of Alexander Calder (1898-1976), and the first in a series of exhibitions, the Seattle Art Museum presents Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection—covering 54 iconic artworks from every decade from the 1920s to the 1970s. Calder is considered a “pioneer of wire sculpture,” says exhibition curator and Susan Brotman deputy director of art, José Carlos Diaz, and is “the creator of the mobile…a true creative genius, gracefully employing industrial materials to redefine the notion of sculpture.”
Alexander Calder with his piece Gamma, 1947, also on display for the exhibition.
The exhibition, on view beginning November 8, will include Calder’s mastery in mobiles, stabiles, standing mobiles, wire sculptures, a constellation, works on paper, as well as a significant oil painting. “In spring 2023,” explains Diaz, “SAM announced the generosity of patrons Jon and Kim Shirley in gifting these artworks to the museum. This unique collection—one of the most important private holdings of Calder’s art—is the result of 35 years of thoughtful collecting, first by Jon and his late wife, Mary, and then by Jon and Kim. Calder: In Motion reflects the depth and breadth of this collection that covers Calder’s entire career.”
The exhibition is presented thematically rather than chronologically, is divided into vignettes to “highlight the elegance and the lyricism of Calder’s work, and [to accommodate some of the large-scale works],” says Diaz. Two wooden sculptures will welcome guests into the exhibition space, one created at the beginning of the artist’s career in 1929 and one of Calder’s final commissions in 1976.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Red Curly Tail, 1970. Sheet metal, rod, bolts and paint, 192 x 275 x 144 in. Promised gift of Jon and Mary Shirley, © 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, photo: Nicholas Shirley.
From there, visitors will find a gallery space of Calder’s more rare works including the oil painting The Yellow Disc, 1958; a mobile created for a stage set, Untitled (Métaboles), 1969; and Fish, 1942—“a significant work from a rare series of mobiles created during and after World War II when metal was scarce, made of wire framing and found materials, including porcelain fragments and bits of colored glass,” explains Diaz.
In the central gallery, the museum traverses the artist’s career from miniature displays through the monumental. Visitors will find noteworthy works like the 22-foot-tall Red Curly Tail, 1970—a sculpture painted with yellow, red, black and white moveable parts.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Fish, 1942. Rod, wire, string, glass, mirror, porcelain and paint, 15 x 36½ in. Promised gift of Jon and Mary Shirley, © 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, photo: Nicholas Shirley.
Diaz shares, “In 1933, Calder and his wife, Louisa, left Paris and settled in Roxbury, Connecticut. The artist converted the old icehouse into a studio, and the property was large enough to allow Calder to work on an elevated scale. In the summer of 1934, Calder created his first outdoor works, which ranged in height from 5 to 9 feet. Working larger proved to be expensive and experimental, so the artist began making scaled models or maquettes from which to proportionally enlarge his sculptures. The last two decades of Calder’s life were very successful, and he received multiple high-profile commissions for outdoor work. Red Curly Tail, once displayed outdoors, includes kinetic parts and an abstract base, giving it a sense of wonder.”
Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Moon and Waves, 1963. Gouache and ink on paper, 29½ x 41 in. Promised gift of Jon and Mary Shirley, © 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, photo: Nicholas Shirley.
The final gallery covers that of Calder’s legacy and what Diaz considers are his most productive decades, and how his work “impacted the development of modern art.” Pieces included are Jonah and the Whale, ca. 1940, Constellation with Red Knife, 1943, and Yellow Stalk with Stone, 1953, to name just a few.
The exhibition, closing August 4, 2024, will also include an illustrated color catalog as well as an audio guide of Jon Shirley’s reflections on his collecting journey. Visitors are also encouraged to visit SAM’s Olympic Sculpture Park, where Calder’s six ton, 38-foot-tall monumental stabile, The Eagle, 1971, can be found.
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