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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Woman with Square Umbrella
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A sculpture in wood depicting a woman holding an umbrella. "Woman with Square Umbrella" by Post War artist Alexander Calder is signed underneath, "Calder." "Woman with a Square Umbre...
Wood
$1,500
H 6.5 in W 8 in D 22.25 in
Vintage Alligator by Oaxacan Master Carver Gerardo Ramirez Morales
By Gerardo Ramirez Morales
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Alligator 1989 Gerardo Ramirez Morales San Antonio Arrazola, Oaxaca, Mexico Copal wood, acrylic paint Signed 22.25 inches L. x 6.50 inches H. (at tail) x 8 inches W. This amazing al...
Wood, Acrylic
Virgin and Child
Located in Wien, Wien
OUTSTANDING MADONNA Bavaria Around 1515/20 Lime wood carved Original, polychrome version Height 60 cm This masterfully carved, full-round Madonna was created around 1515-20 in...
Wood
$148,000
H 24.02 in W 8.67 in
The Enthroned Madonna – Sedes Sapientiae, Second half of the 12th century
Located in Wien, Wien
SEDES SAPIENTIAE Pornic / Loire-Atlantique, France Second half of the 12th century Carved from walnut Remnants of polychrome paint Height 61 cm Bibliography: Illustrated in “THE STU...
Wood
Corpus Christi
Located in Wien, Wien
MUSEUM CORPUS CHRISTI Spain/Catalonia or Asturias Around 1250 Corpus hardwood, arms softwood Remains of the original polychrome setting Height 109.5...
Wood
$74,441
H 16.34 in W 11.62 in D 11.62 in
Yves Klein Blue Earth Sculpture IKB Pigment Plaster Cast in Plexiglas Box
By Yves Klein
Located in Paris, FR
Concieved in 1957, this edition started to be executed in 1988 IKB pigment and synthetic resin on plaster cast, in plexiglas, signed Rotraut Klein Moquay and numbered HC XXX/L on the base on a label affixed under the base. 300 editions numbered from “1/300” to “300/300″ 50 editions numbered from”HCI/L” à “HC L/L” H. 36 cm With the Plexiglas box: 41.5 x 29.5 x 29.5 cm Yves Klein is an influential French conceptual artist who works in a wide variety of fields. Arguably best known for his use of a very vibrant shade of blue, he began to create his monochrome series in the 1950s by developing and patenting his own signature shade known as IKB or International Klein Blue. Born April 28, 1928 in Nice, the artist founded the New Realism movement with the art critic Pierre Restany...
Plaster, Synthetic Resin, Pigment
Corpus Christi 1150/70
Located in Wien, Wien
Corpus Christi around 1150/70 Southern France or Catalonia carved oak wood height 109 cm, width 96 cm Remains of polychromy
Wood
Enthroned Madonna and Child.
Located in PARIS, FR
Large Virgin and Child in carved wood, carved back. Sitting on a throne bench, Mary carries Christ seated on her left knee. The Virgin has a face with stylized features with semicircular eyebrow arches, almond-shaped eyes with protruding eyeballs. Marie is wearing a belted dress with a simple neckline and a coat with a flap that goes back to the front. Tiny traces of polychromy. Romanesque influences are still present. With her protruding eyes, she can also be compared to the statuary of Lake Constance. Our Virgin, rare for its size, nevertheless presents strong analogies with the Italian Sedes Sapientiae...
Wood
Rampazzi Etruska Chair
Located in Zug, CH
CARLO RAMPAZZI (b. 1949) Chair (Collection Etruska) Wood, fur 110 x 50 x 50 cm 43.31 x 19.69 x 19.69 inches
Wood
$22,777
H 40.95 in W 15.75 in D 7.49 in
Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child - Upper Rhine - Late 13th c
Located in PARIS, FR
Important elm-wood sculpture carved in very high relief and hollowed at the back. Anne is seated in majesty, veil and wimple framing a composed face, holding at her left the blessing...
Wood
Anna Selbdritt circa 1200
Located in Wien, Wien
Pilgrimage Route / Southern France? Circa 1200 Carved from walnut Remnants of polychrome paint Height 64 cm Possibly the earliest known depiction of Saint Anne with the Virgin and C...
Wood
$4,750
H 40 in W 10 in D 9 in
Burled Maple Sculpture Nude Woman with Arms Over Head and Stone
Located in Soquel, CA
Burled Maple Sculpture Nude Woman with Arms Over Head Beautiful burled walnut sculpture of a nude woman. The woman stands with her arms stretched over her head. Behind her a dark st...
Stone
Corpus Christi. Gothic. Burgundy 13th century.
Located in PARIS, FR
Corpus Christi. Burgundy 13th century. Crowned Christ from the borderlands between northern Burgundy and southern Champagne, dating from the last third of the 13th century. Carved in polychromed and gilded walnut, this Christ preserves significant traces of its original polychromy and gilding. On the torso, particularly on the ribs, the flesh tones are still clearly visible, as are the gilded areas on the perizonium and on the crown. This Corpus Christi, of striking presence, perfectly illustrates the Rayonnant Gothic style with reminiscences of Classic Gothic, notably in its representation of Christ the King. The anatomy of Christ is characterised by a language that is both graphic and sensitive, typical of workshops working in the orbit of the great northern building sites. The ribcage with its prominent ribs derives from an archaic stylisation intended to underline the emaciation of the crucified body, while the suppleness of the abdomen, slightly distended, bears witness to a new naturalistic observation. The head, tilted towards the right shoulder, breaks with the axial rigidity of earlier periods. Crowned with a royal crown, of which the bases of the fleurons are still preserved, the face retains an expression of peaceful interiority, far removed from the expressionist renderings that would mark the 14th century. The long perizonium is tied relatively high on the hips and unfolds in a complex lateral fall over the left hip, creating a dynamic imbalance. The sculptor has carved the material with great virtuosity, organising the drapery into deep undulations and folds that catch the light. This treatment of volume, heir to the early-13th-century Muldenfaltenstil, achieves a synthesis between the elegance of Parisian ivories and the robustness of Burgundian sculpture. This sculpture may be compared with the Corpus Christi in the Rijksmuseum, dated to around 1260 (see below), and also with the ivory Christ...
Wood
JOSEPH WITH THE CHILD
Located in Wien, Wien
Upper Italy 2nd half 12th century Maple Original version Height 67 cm
Wood
Gothic Virgin and Child - Eastern France. Mid-14th century.
Located in PARIS, FR
Gothic Virgin and Child - Eastern France. Mid-14th century. Carved in the round from walnut, this work relates to the output of workshops in eastern France in the mid-14th century. S...
Wood
$24,000
H 48.82 in W 31.5 in D 27.56 in
Elegant Bronze Sculptural Assemblage Sliced Cellos (La Quadrature)
By Arman
Located in Jerusalem, IL
This work is cast 1 of 8 plus 1 Artist Proof. This work is recorded in the Arman Studio Archives New York under number: APA# 8310.90.011. A striking sculptural work by Arman, one of...
Bronze