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Alexander Calder: Color in Motion

August 1, 2009 through December 13, 2009

Trained as an engineer, Calder challenged the long-held notion that sculpture was static and monumental, and his inventive, colorful, animated “mobiles” epitomize the innovative, optimistic spirit of early 20th-century modernism. This exhibition included mobiles, jewelry, and works on paper drawn from Bay Area collections, including the holdings of several of the Museum’s founders and longtime supporters. 

 

Big Red, 1959
Metal, wire, and paint
60 x 48 inches
San Jose Museum of Art; Partial and promised gift of Kenneth and Janet Gray Hayes in memory of Margaret Calder Hayes, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art’s 35th anniversary 2005.22; © 2009 Calder Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photograph courtesy of Douglas Sandberg and Michael Bartalos

 

Smiling Night, 1968
Gouache on paper
23” x 30 ½”
Private collection, San Francisco © 2009 Calder Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 

Untitled, 1969
Gouache on paper
29 ¼” x 43”
Private collection, San Francisco © 2009 Calder Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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