Alexander Calder

Gift of the artist

This work is in good condition overall. The colors are bright, fresh and clean. The sheet has discolored slightly with age. There is a slight undulation to the sheet, inherent to the artist’s working method. There are a few minor and unobtrusive pinpoints of foxing. The corners have discolored slightly due to contact with a previous top matte. There are a few scattered pinpoint black and media accretions throughout the sheet from the time of execution. Under close inspection, there are some scattered abrasions to the sheet in the lower left quadrant that reveal the paper beneath the painted layer. The sheet is hinged verso to matte intermittently along the top and lateral edges. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.

Sotheby’s is honored to present an outstanding group of jewelry and works on paper by Alexander Calder from the collection of Nanette Margaret Hayes Sexton, great-niece of the famed and multi-talented artist. Named after her paternal grandmother Margaret (nicknamed Peggy) Calder Hayes and her great grandmother Nanette Lederer Calder, Nan grew up living 3 doors down from Peggy in Berkeley, California, leading to an immensely close bond between the two. Peggy’s beloved brother Alexander Calder (affectionately known as “Uncle Sandy” to Nan) visited his sister and Nan frequently, resulting in a spirited exchange of letters, drawings, sculptures, paintings, jewelry and the like. As the recipient of such gifts, Nan often brought these treasures to school for ‘show and tell’ in her younger years, writing up reports to augment the extraordinarily innovative works of art. Nan’s friend Nancy Rawls Roberts remembers these gifts vividly, recalling “before I knew anything about art…we enjoyed the playful images and objects [Calder had created] all around Nan's and Granny's houses…mobiles, wire toys, circus drawings, brightly colored paintings, light fixtures made from tin cans, whimsical wire and sheet metal kitchen utensils, and of course, jewelry, which we tried on and pranced around sometimes wearing over our pajamas at sleepover weekends.”

It came as no surprise that Nan pursued art in college at the University of California, Berkeley and in graduate school at Harvard, ultimately gaining her PhD in Art History. She was often seen toting her little Brownie camera with her wherever she went, including her holidays to visit ‘Uncle Sandy and Aunt Louisa’ at their homes in Saché, France and Roxbury, Connecticut. Nan’s education in the arts spurred numerous conversations between her and Calder about his work, his inspirations, and course, his artist friends such as Joan Miró and Fernand Léger.

In the lots that follow, Calder’s genius as a passionate draughtsman, sculptor, painter and metalworker are vividly on display. Each work Calder made for Nan was not only a gift, but a personalized one—Calder often wrote dedications to Nan directly on his gouaches and created jewelry for Nan with her specific aesthetic in mind. Highly creative in her own right, Nan had a deep appreciation for Calder’s diverse body of work, once remarking that “no one can bend wire like Sandy.”