Alexander Calder

Galerie Maeght, Paris
Galerie Maeght, Zurich 
Studio Marconi, Milan (acquired in 1976)
Private Collection, Milan (acquired from the above in 1976)
By descent to the present owner from the above

Zurich, Galerie Maeght, Alexander Calder: Retrospektive, May - July 1973, cat. no. 29
Milan, Studio Marconi, Critters and Crags, February 1976

This work is in good and sound condition overall. The elements move smoothly and freely. There is evidence of wear and handling to the base and mobile elements with resultant scattered pinpoint areas of paint loss. There is a light adhesive residue on the two largest mobile elements and there are scattered very light drip accretions visible on the mobile elements throughout. Under raking light, some scattered and unobtrusive surface abrasions are visible.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Alexander Calder’s Jerk exemplifies the artist’s ability to create structures that are at once fantastic and organic. In a signature move, Calder creates a mechanically complex structure whose off-kilter composition is whimsical and enchanting. Eight white, celestial discs radiate outward on a single plane opposite one larger disc. The delicate wire is impossibly balanced on the lithe, angular, red, yellow and black base. Flitting to life at the smallest movement of air, the asymmetrical mobile element playfully engages the viewer as it perches perilously on the small base. The ethereal orbit of the mobile is mesmerizing, and Calder’s genius lies in the way that the viewer’s experience is not only determined by the structure itself, but by what surrounds it. The material elements of Jerk are incomplete without the immaterial element of air, which spontaneously brings the work to life making Jerk appear as if the work has a mind of its own.

Calder’s remarkable oeuvre was shaped by his ability to recognize and appropriate into his practice the most central social and artistic subjects of his time. In the mid-1930s, Calder embraced abstraction wholeheartedly in the execution of his sculpture and began creating the mystical and delicate mobile structures that have defined his career. Calder was greatly influenced by other leading artists of the day, such as Jean Arp, Fernand Léger, and Joan Miró, among others. In Jerk and in many of Calder’s mobiles, the reduced palette of red, black, yellow and white reflects the influence of Piet Mondrian. 

Calder was also inspired by cultural changes, and the industrialization of the 20^th Century served as a lasting influence that is evident in works throughout his entire oeuvre. As the world modernized in the first half of the 20th Century, the pace of life became more rapid, and movement became a topic of interest as the world raced into a more fast-paced era. Responding to this emphatic interest in movement in both the social and artistic world, Calder developed a new formal language based on the principles of kinetics. With this in mind, he began creating his mobile structures that were both visually stunning and entertaining. The success of these works is clear to anyone who takes a moment to watch the elements of the mobiles in their delicate choreography as they float through the viewer’s space.

When set into motion, Calder’s Jerk is not simply a work of art to be looked at, but it becomes a work of art to be experienced. Calder’s understanding of kinetics is apparent in the way the tangible elements of the work engage seamlessly with the intangible. The immaterial breathes life to the material, and the uncanny, life-like movements of Calder’s structures have been likened to that of living creatures. Jean Paul Sartre commented on this phenomenon in 1946: “One day, when I was talking with Calder in his studio, a mobile, which had until then been still, became violently agitated right beside me. I stepped back and thought I had got out of its reach. But suddenly, when the agitation had left it and it seemed lifeless again, its long, majestic tail, which until then had not moved, came to life indolently and almost regretfully, spun in the air and swept past my nose. These hesitations and resumptions, fumblings, sudden decisions and, most especially, marvelous swan-like nobility make Calder’s mobiles strange creatures, mid-way between matter and life”  (Alexander Calder, Avant-Garde in Motion, Dusseldorf, 2013, p. 89).