A child spirit above all…

I have always been very fond of the American sculptor’s artwork, for his ability to keep his child spirit throughout his lifetime. The only one to compare with Calder was Picasso, who understood the value of remaining a child in the Art field:

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”.

I visited the current exhibition at the Tate Modern to look at Calder’s retrospective and it’s really worth it for the number and quality of the displayed artwork.

The first stages of Calder’s Art

In his childhood, Calder created many toys, jewellery and sculptures for himself or family, and then was inspired by the Circus while creating some “Animal Sketching”. This is when he started using sheet metal and wire. In 1926, Calder founded in Paris his “Cirque Calder”, a work of performance art. At this time, Calder developed his invention of wire sculpture, and “drew” with wire in three dimensions the portraits of friends, whom you can see at the Tate Modern exhibition (like Miro or Duchamps). I can’t help but think of Cocteau who made drawings (in two dimensions) with a simple line, such a refined design that is at the same time sophisticated enough to represent a perfectly recognisable portrait. Calder made acrobats and animals so expressive that you easily witness his talent.

The maturity of Calder’s Art:

When visiting Mondrian’s studio in 1930, Calder made suggestions to the abstract painter. He said “that perhaps it would be fun to make these rectangles oscillate. And Mondrian, with a very serious countenance, said: ‘No, it is not necessary, my painting is already very fast.’…”. I love the opposition between the two artists, with Mondrian’s talent for repartee and the genius of Calder who was ahead of art styles. After that, Calder oriented his work towards both abstraction and movement. The “Mobiles” were born, Calder was a pioneer of kinetic sculpture …and had a great success.

Calder today

As I questioned myself about today’s appreciation of Calder’s work (in a financial way, of course), I saw it appearing in some auction house’s sales. Needless to say that Calder pieces of art are inaccessible. Would you like to possess one mobile of your own, would you have to pay around USD 2 million…Another possibility though would be to create one with your gifted kids during the last few weeks of the winter.
“Keep calm and stay young”!