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Alexander CalderHandwritten, signed letter1956
1956
About the Item
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 × 8 1/2 inches
Unframed
This is the original, handwritten and hand signed two page letter dated February 12, 1956 from Alexander Calder to Chantal (more on her in a bit) and signed "Affectueusement, Sandy". (Affectionately, Sandy). The entire letter is in French, Calder's second language and is full of important references from Calder's life and career. For example, Calder mentions his daughter Sandra and good friend Jean Davidson, who would soon become his son-in-law, and their new home in Sache, France. ("Nous avons une maison.. en face moulin..habite par Sandra et Jean Davidson.") This letter was written only three years after the Calders bought the Sache house. The 1976 New York Times Obituary on Calder writes about this era in his life, "... There seemed to be no country, no function, and no public for which Calder was not in demand. In 1953, the Calders went for the first time to Saché, near Tours, in France, where their friend Jean Davidson, soon to become their son‐in‐law, urged them to buy an ancient house by the river Indre. It was barely more than an immensely evocative hole in the wall. They bought it, and thereafter Saché was, with Roxbury, their home...." (John Russell, New York Times). In this letter, Calder also mentions a forthcoming exhibition of his works at La Galleria Dell'Obelisco in Rome. (According to Calder's official biography, the exhibition at Galleria dell'Obelisco Rome, was held March 14–31, 1956.) Although there is no accompanying envelope, Chantal is Chantal Quenneville 1897 - 1969, the French born painter who lived with her family in Montbard. She first met Calder in 1929 in Berlin, Germany. (Chantal was also best friends with Nina Stein, the second wife of art critic and collector Leo D. Stein, Gertrude Stein's older brother. In 1965 Quenneville donated a significant collection of Stein paintings, drawings, documents and correspondence to Yale University Library which Nina had given to her.).
- Creator:Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976, American)
- Creation Year:1956
- Dimensions:Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Width: 8.5 in (21.59 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Very good vintage condition.
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1745214303162
Alexander Calder
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.
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