.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
"Calder’s most original contribution is his unique enlivening of abstract art by humor. Through humor he satisfies the observer’s appetite for feeling or emotion without recourse to direct representation… At the same time the humor in his work is a protest against false seriousness in art and the self-importance of the advance-guard painter, as well as of the academician."
—(J. Sweeney, Alexander Calder, New York, 1951, pp. 7-8)
Connoisseurs in the truest sense of the word, Mireille and James Lévy sought out objects with which they formed a very personal connection, displaying them with finesse and pride in their exquisite homes in Switzerland, New York and Los Angeles. Undeterred by academic classifications, their premise was “collecting pioneers of style and time. It goes without saying that we must find the works aesthetically pleasing,” the couple told Architectural Digest in March 1987, “but what most interests us is that these artists are witnesses to their time.” A veritable witness to his time, Alexander Calder (1898-1976) captured both the energy and innovation of the twentieth century in his distinctive shaping of form using color and air. The works offered from The Foundation Mireille and James Lévy, Pierced Stone, Long Nose and Le Chien (maquette), tell a compelling story of Calder’s maturing understanding of balance in the context of his iconic Stabile practice. In the Lévy collection for over three decades, these three special examples not only encompass the best of the artist’s body of work, but speak to the keen collecting eye with which Mireille and James Lévy approached the building of their collection for posterity. Now their largess continues, as the proceeds from the sale of these works will continue the Lévy legacy of extraordinary philanthropy. Many institutions in the United States, Switzerland and Israel, including hospitals, medical research centers, museums and resettlement agencies for Jewish refugees, have received donations during the Lévys’ lifetime, and will continue to do so now, through The Foundation Mireille And James Lévy, the primary beneficiary of their joint estate.
With its regimented lines of bolts and braces, as well as the elegant and lively curves, Le Chien (maquette) is an exquisite example of Alexander Calder’s hand-wrought sculpture from the 1940s. Compared to its larger counterpart, created in 1958 and in the collection of the Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, the present work demonstrates no less bravura and artistry while exhibiting striking visual potency that is signature to Calder’s stabiles.
Standing on five legs in the iconic matte-black painted sheet metal that is so quintessentially Calder, Le Chien (maquette) holds the confidence of a monumental sculpture. While the sculpture is entirely abstract—titled only after the fact of creation—the center recalls to some an abstracted profile of a standing dog while three black strips reach out from its torso. Another black metal plate outstretches its circular end to the side of the head. Near the end, two elongated elements, capped by a thin ribbon and a small triangle respectively, extend vigorously towards the ceiling. Despite a more refined color palette, Le Chien (maquette) exudes an overwhelming and superlative sense of dynamism. The multitude of energetic elements simultaneously suggests numerous poses and moods. The dramatic composition and the lifelike size entices the viewers to walk around and experience the endless motions encompassed in the multi-layered image presented by the sculpture. “The sense of 'potential energy,' of energy barely contained, endows them [Calder’s stabiles] with a powerful presence” (M. Glimcher, “Alexander Calder: Toward Monumentalism,” Alexander Calder: The 50s, New York, 1995, pp. 16-17).
Calder’s process for executing his stabiles included working independently and intuitively without hesitation. After cutting strips of sheet metal with shears and punching holes for the bolts, he shaped the pieces in a vise between blocks of wood, files the edges, then bolts the sheets together. “When I use two or more sheets of metal cut into shapes and mounted at angles to each other, I feel that there is a solid form, perhaps concave, perhaps convex, filling in the dihedral angles between them. I do not have a definite idea of what this would be like. I merely sense it and occupy myself with the shapes one actually sees” (A. Calder, quoted in J. Lipman, “Stabiles,” Calder’s Universe, New York, 1976, p. 310). As James Johnson Sweeney remarks, the way Calder handles and conceives artworks “has fostered a simplicity of form and clarity of contour in his work. It allies him with [Constantin] Brancusi, [Jean] Arp, [Henry] Moore and [Alberto] Giacometti in their repudiation of virtuosity” (J. Sweeney, Alexander Calder, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951, p. 8).
Executed in 1948, Le Chien (maquette) marks a turning point in the artist’s career and the crystallization of his international reputation. It was only a few years prior, in 1943, when the Museum of Modern Art hosted a large retrospective in which he received critical acclaim. In the post-war years, Calder was eager to make up for lost time and to present his works widely in Europe and Latin America. After his successful exhibition at the Galerie Louis Carré in Paris in 1946, Calder embarked upon a major tour, traveling to Mexico City, Panama, Trinidad and Brazil, where he presented two successful exhibitions in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in 1948. The technically nimble and visually captivating stabiles that Calder executed during this era foreshadow his monumental commissions in the upcoming decades but also display a remarkable sense of vigor and promise.
—(J. Sweeney, Alexander Calder, New York, 1951, pp. 7-8)
Connoisseurs in the truest sense of the word, Mireille and James Lévy sought out objects with which they formed a very personal connection, displaying them with finesse and pride in their exquisite homes in Switzerland, New York and Los Angeles. Undeterred by academic classifications, their premise was “collecting pioneers of style and time. It goes without saying that we must find the works aesthetically pleasing,” the couple told Architectural Digest in March 1987, “but what most interests us is that these artists are witnesses to their time.” A veritable witness to his time, Alexander Calder (1898-1976) captured both the energy and innovation of the twentieth century in his distinctive shaping of form using color and air. The works offered from The Foundation Mireille and James Lévy, Pierced Stone, Long Nose and Le Chien (maquette), tell a compelling story of Calder’s maturing understanding of balance in the context of his iconic Stabile practice. In the Lévy collection for over three decades, these three special examples not only encompass the best of the artist’s body of work, but speak to the keen collecting eye with which Mireille and James Lévy approached the building of their collection for posterity. Now their largess continues, as the proceeds from the sale of these works will continue the Lévy legacy of extraordinary philanthropy. Many institutions in the United States, Switzerland and Israel, including hospitals, medical research centers, museums and resettlement agencies for Jewish refugees, have received donations during the Lévys’ lifetime, and will continue to do so now, through The Foundation Mireille And James Lévy, the primary beneficiary of their joint estate.
With its regimented lines of bolts and braces, as well as the elegant and lively curves, Le Chien (maquette) is an exquisite example of Alexander Calder’s hand-wrought sculpture from the 1940s. Compared to its larger counterpart, created in 1958 and in the collection of the Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, the present work demonstrates no less bravura and artistry while exhibiting striking visual potency that is signature to Calder’s stabiles.
Standing on five legs in the iconic matte-black painted sheet metal that is so quintessentially Calder, Le Chien (maquette) holds the confidence of a monumental sculpture. While the sculpture is entirely abstract—titled only after the fact of creation—the center recalls to some an abstracted profile of a standing dog while three black strips reach out from its torso. Another black metal plate outstretches its circular end to the side of the head. Near the end, two elongated elements, capped by a thin ribbon and a small triangle respectively, extend vigorously towards the ceiling. Despite a more refined color palette, Le Chien (maquette) exudes an overwhelming and superlative sense of dynamism. The multitude of energetic elements simultaneously suggests numerous poses and moods. The dramatic composition and the lifelike size entices the viewers to walk around and experience the endless motions encompassed in the multi-layered image presented by the sculpture. “The sense of 'potential energy,' of energy barely contained, endows them [Calder’s stabiles] with a powerful presence” (M. Glimcher, “Alexander Calder: Toward Monumentalism,” Alexander Calder: The 50s, New York, 1995, pp. 16-17).
Calder’s process for executing his stabiles included working independently and intuitively without hesitation. After cutting strips of sheet metal with shears and punching holes for the bolts, he shaped the pieces in a vise between blocks of wood, files the edges, then bolts the sheets together. “When I use two or more sheets of metal cut into shapes and mounted at angles to each other, I feel that there is a solid form, perhaps concave, perhaps convex, filling in the dihedral angles between them. I do not have a definite idea of what this would be like. I merely sense it and occupy myself with the shapes one actually sees” (A. Calder, quoted in J. Lipman, “Stabiles,” Calder’s Universe, New York, 1976, p. 310). As James Johnson Sweeney remarks, the way Calder handles and conceives artworks “has fostered a simplicity of form and clarity of contour in his work. It allies him with [Constantin] Brancusi, [Jean] Arp, [Henry] Moore and [Alberto] Giacometti in their repudiation of virtuosity” (J. Sweeney, Alexander Calder, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951, p. 8).
Executed in 1948, Le Chien (maquette) marks a turning point in the artist’s career and the crystallization of his international reputation. It was only a few years prior, in 1943, when the Museum of Modern Art hosted a large retrospective in which he received critical acclaim. In the post-war years, Calder was eager to make up for lost time and to present his works widely in Europe and Latin America. After his successful exhibition at the Galerie Louis Carré in Paris in 1946, Calder embarked upon a major tour, traveling to Mexico City, Panama, Trinidad and Brazil, where he presented two successful exhibitions in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in 1948. The technically nimble and visually captivating stabiles that Calder executed during this era foreshadow his monumental commissions in the upcoming decades but also display a remarkable sense of vigor and promise.