Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
American, 1898-1976
The American sculptor Alexander Calder is known as the father of the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling.
Because Calder's parents, both artists themselves, did not want him to suffer the hardships of trying to make a living in art, they encouraged the young Calder to study mechanical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He worked a number of jobs, including as a hydraulic engineer and draftsman for the New York Edison Company, before deciding to pursue an artistic career. He never abandoned his engineering background, however, applying his understanding of gears and moving parts in all his artworks, from mechanical toys like the Cirque Calder (1931) and his revered prints to his free-standing abstract sculptures, called stabiles.
In 1926, Calder moved to Paris and established a studio in the Montparnasse quarter. He began creating the many parts of his famous miniature circus from found materials, such as wire, string, cloth, rubber and cork. Designed to be transportable, Cirque grew to fill five suitcases over the years. Always interested in putting forms in motion, Calder also pioneered a new art form called wire sculptures, which he described as “drawings in space.” Like his famous mobiles, the wire sculptures were suspended so that they turned with any movement of the air, presenting different forms when viewed from different angles.
In the 1950s, Calder returned to his roots in mechanical engineering, creating monumental abstract sculptures that verged on the architectural. He worked from loose gestural drawings like this preparatory sketch for his Man Stabile, from 1966. Throughout his career, he also worked as a set designer for the theater, as well as an illustrator and printmaker, producing vibrant, whimsical drawings for books and journals.
Find original Alexander Calder art today on 1stDibs.
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Artist: Alexander Calder
Handwritten, signed letter
By Alexander Calder
Located in New York, NY
Alexander Calder
Handwritten, signed letter, 1956
Ink on paper: 2 page handwritten and hand signed letter
Hand signed by Calder at the end of the letter on the second page.
Unique
11...
Category
1950s Modern Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Paper
Mer De Sable By Alexander Calder
By Alexander Calder
Located in New Orleans, LA
Alexander Calder
1898 – 1976 American
Mer de sable
(Sea of sand)
Gouache and ink on paper
Signed and dated with artist’s monogram “CA and ‘75” (lower right)
This vibrant gouache ...
Category
20th Century Post-Impressionist Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Gouache
Alexander Calder Yin Yang and Pinwheel 1969 Gouache on Canson Paper Signed
By Alexander Calder
Located in Paris, FR
1969
Gouache and ink on paper, signed « Calder » and dated « 69 » lower right
This artwork is recorded with the Calder Foundation as number A03085
75 x 110 cm ...
Category
1960s Modern Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
BLACK CHAIR (ORIGINAL GOUACHE)
By Alexander Calder
Located in Aventura, FL
Original gouache and ink painting on paper. Hand signed and dated by Alexander Calder. Executed in 1969, this work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York,...
Category
1960s Surrealist Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Gouache
UNTITLED (GIRAFFE)
By Alexander Calder
Located in Aventura, FL
Original crayon and pencil drawing on cut-out paper mounted on board. Hand signed with artist's initials CA. Executed in 1966, this work is registered in the archives of the Calder...
Category
1960s Surrealist Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Crayon, Pencil
Personnages
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Personnages" is a gouache on paper by Alexander Calder. The work is signed in the lower right, "Calder 67".
Although renowned for his innovative and groundbreaking sculptures, Alex...
Category
1960s Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Paper, Gouache
Three Pyramids + Blue Ball
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Three Pyramids + Blue Ball" is a gouache on paper by Alexander Calder. The work is signed in the lower right, "Calder 73”.
Although renowned for his innovative and groundbreaking sculptures, Alexander Calder started his artistic career as an abstract painter, preferring to use gouache. What is gouache? Gouache is a water-soluble paint – a type of opaque watercolor.
As Calder returned to gouache painting towards the end of his life, he was now armed with a lifetime of experience as a sculptor. He explored the three-dimensional vocabulary of sculptural forms he had developed onto the two-dimensional surface of the paper. Certain shapes and colors recur throughout his gouaches and sculptures. Circles, ovals, and other geometric forms dominate the space. There is the same sense of energy and fluidity. The shapes do not sit on the surface but vibrate giving a feeling of movement in contrast to the static nature of painting.
Like his sculpture, Calder’s gouache...
Category
1970s Abstract Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Gouache
The Forest
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A painting by Alexander Calder. "The Forest" is a Post-War abstract painting, gouache and ink on paper in bold colors of reds, blacks, yellows, and blues by artist Alexander Calder. The artwork is signed lower right, "Calder 72...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-War Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Gouache
Bobine
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Bobine" is a gouache and ink on paper by Alexander Calder. The work is signed in the lower right "Calder 72".
Although renowned for his innovative and groundbreaking sculptures, Alexander Calder started his artistic career as an abstract painter, preferring to use gouache. What is gouache? Gouache is a water-soluble paint – a type of opaque watercolor.
As Calder returned to gouache painting towards the end of his life, he was now armed with a lifetime of experience as a sculptor. He explored the three-dimensional vocabulary of sculptural forms he had developed onto the two-dimensional surface of the paper. Certain shapes and colors recur throughout his gouaches and sculptures. Circles, ovals, and other geometric forms dominate the space. There is the same sense of energy and fluidity. The shapes do not sit on the surface but vibrate giving a feeling of movement in contrast to the static nature of painting.
Like his sculpture, Calder’s gouache...
Category
1970s Abstract Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Gouache
Two Crosses
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Two Crosses" is a gouache on paper by Alexander Calder. The work is signed in the lower right, "Calder 65”.
Although renowned for his innovative and groundbreaking sculptures, Alexander Calder started his artistic career as an abstract painter, preferring to use gouache. What is gouache? Gouache is a water-soluble paint – a type of opaque watercolor.
As Calder returned to gouache painting towards the end of his life, he was now armed with a lifetime of experience as a sculptor. He explored the three-dimensional vocabulary of sculptural forms he had developed onto the two-dimensional surface of the paper. Certain shapes and colors recur throughout his gouaches and sculptures. Circles, ovals, and other geometric forms dominate the space. There is the same sense of energy and fluidity. The shapes do not sit on the surface but vibrate giving a feeling of movement in contrast to the static nature of painting.
Like his sculpture, Calder’s gouache...
Category
1960s Abstract Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Gouache
Wigwam rouge et jaune
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Wigwam rouge et jaune" is a gouache on paper by Alexander Calder. The unique work is signed in the lower right, “Calder 65”.
Although renowned for his innovative and groundbreaking...
Category
1960s Abstract Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Gouache
Sketch for 'The X & Its Tails'. 1967
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palo Alto, CA
This work is registered as an authentic work by Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) in the archives of the Calder Foundation (NY), under application number A.24492. Created in 1967, this original pen and red ink drawing on paper is initialed ‘CA’ in blue ink in the lower right by Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) with a handwritten dedication, also in blue ink, ‘To Alvin Lane’ along the lower center.
The Sketch for ‘The X & Its Tails’ is an original study and preliminary drawing made by Calder preceding his large-scale sculpture for the Detroit Institute of Arts. Sketches for models and sculptures are rare and this is no exception; according to Alvin S. Lane, collector and friend to Calder, “To the best of my knowledge there were very few, if any, preliminary drawings done by Calder that were on the market, but he was good enough when he did two for commissions to send the drawings to me as a present [including this Sketch for ‘The X & Its Tails’]. I included one of them here to show that although his drawings usually have a flowing steady line, his preliminary drawings are sloppy scribbles” (23).
Provenance:
~ Gift of artist
~ Private Collection (Riverdale, NJ)
Catalogue Raisonné and COA:
Sketch for 'The X & Its Tails,' 1967 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).
1. Registered with the Calder Foundation, NY under application number A.24492.
2. Elvehjem Museum of Art. The Terese and Alvin S. Lane Collection...
Category
1960s Modern Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Pen
Tornado in Space
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A drawing by Alexander Calder. "Tornado in Space" is a Post-War abstract drawing, ink on paper in black and white by artist Alexander Calder. The artwork is signed in the lower right...
Category
Early 20th Century Post-War Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Seahorse
By Alexander Calder
Located in London, GB
ALEXANDER CALDER 1898-1976
Lawnton, Pennsylvania 1898 - 1976 New York (American)
Title: Seahorse, 1962
Technique: Original Signed and Dated Gouache and Ink on BFK Rives Wove P...
Category
1960s Kinetic Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
The Yellow Shock Absorber - Gouache American Kinetic Art Post War
By Alexander Calder
Located in London, GB
ALEXANDER CALDER 1898-1976
Lawnton, Pennsylvania 1898 - 1976 New York (American)
Title: The Yellow Shock Absorber, 1969
Technique: Original Signe...
Category
1960s Kinetic Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gouache
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Alexander Calder drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Alexander Calder drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of drawings and watercolor paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, yellow and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Alexander Calder in gouache, paint, watercolor and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Alexander Calder drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Lloyd Raymond Ney, Anya Spielman, and Marcy Rosenblat. Alexander Calder drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,500 and tops out at $295,000, while the average work can sell for $180,000.
Artists Similar to Alexander Calder
Questions About Alexander Calder Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022American artist Alexander Calder is best known for his work in sculpture, particularly his monumental sculptures and innovative ‘mobiles’ in the tradition of kinetic art. Shop a collection of authentic Alexander Calder pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertOctober 12, 2021The American sculptor Alexander Calder is known as the father of the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling. On 1stDibs, find a variety of vintage Alexander Calder drawings and other sculptures.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022The American sculptor Alexander Calder invented the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling. His mobiles were an innovative feat and initially used motors for movement, which he later abandoned for air currents alone. Calder was also a pioneer of wire sculptures. Shop a selection of Alexander Calder pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
- Where is Alexander Calder’s art?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Alexander Calder’s artwork has found its home in many museums and art galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum. Shop a selection of Alexander Calder’s pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Alexander Calder is best known for his sculptures. He produced large, playful freestanding and hanging works in vibrant colors. Examples include Mobile-Stabile, Lobster Trap and Fish Tail and Flying Dragon. On 1stDibs, you can shop a selection of Alexander Calder art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Alexander Calder's mobiles were revolutionary because he largely pioneered the art form of creating hanging sculptures that were able to move freely in response to airflow. Calder was a prolific artist believed to have produced more than 22,000 works during his life. Shop a variety of Alexander Calder art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMay 3, 2024Alexander Calder mostly made sculptures, although he also worked in printmaking, painting, performance and other media. He is known as the father of the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling. Some of his most famous works include Cirque Calder, A Universe, Josephine Baker (III), Mobile (Arc of Petals), Devil Fish, Romulus and Remus and Fish. On 1stDibs, find a variety of Alexander Calder art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022The term ‘mobile’, which was coined by Marcel Duchamp, was used to describe Alexander Calder’s work, as Calder’s sculptures often moved with the help of motors or wind. ‘Mobiles’ was a French pun which meant ‘motion’. On 1stDibs, find a variety of original artwork from Alexander Calder.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022There are several interpretations of how to describe the characteristics of Alexander Calder’s sculptures. Some say they are abstract, with life-like elements, others say they are flat, simplified shapes that intersect at opposing angles. See the magic for yourself — shop a selection of Alexander Calder pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 16, 2024Alexander Calder used many of the elements of art when producing his works. The American sculptor is known as the father of the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling. These kinetic pieces use color, shape and space to convey a sense of unity, and the form of the art allows it to interact with its environment. Find a variety of Alexander Calder art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 3, 2024Alexander Calder invented the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling. The revered American sculptor's mobiles were an innovative feat and initially used motors for movement, which he later abandoned for air currents alone. Calder was also a pioneer of wire sculptures. (He was a celebrated modernist printmaker, too, and while jewelry was a secondary métier for him, interest in his wearable art has accelerated in recent years.)
For Calder, the fascinating moment of artistic alchemy comes sometime between his representational canvases of the late 1920s and 1931, the year of his first show of abstract sculpture. Moving to Paris helped spur his creativity, as it did for so many artists and writers. The moment Calder arrived, he began working on one of his most seminal pieces, Cirque Calder (1931), his delightful distillation of the circus into what are essentially three-dimensional line drawings made with wire.
Shop authentic Alexander Calder prints, sculptures and other art from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs. - 1stDibs ExpertMay 3, 2024The art movement that Alexander Calder was connected to was kinetic art. The term refers to art that moves or has the appearance of movement. With their ability to sway and turn once suspended, Calder's mobiles are often referenced as examples of kinetic art. On 1stDibs, find a selection of Alexander Calder art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Like all meaningful works of art, the mood that best describes American artist Alexander Calder’s sculptures is subject to interpretation. Common descriptors for his abstract work include “playful” or “whimsical.” Calder is best known as the father of the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling. Shop a selection of Alexander Calder pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 13, 2024Alexander Calder produced more than 22,000 works of art during his lifetime. The prolific artist made paintings, drawings, prints, tapestries, stage sets, jewelry and other types of art. Some of his most famous pieces include Cirque Calder, Josephine Baker (III), A Universe, Mobile (Arc of Petals) and Devil Fish. Shop a diverse assortment of Alexander Calder art on 1stDibs.
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