Sketch for 'The X & Its Tails'. 1967
By Alexander Calder
Located in Palo Alto, CA
This work is registered as an authentic work by Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) in the archives of the Calder Foundation (NY), under application number A.24492. Created in 1967, this original pen and red ink drawing on paper is initialed ‘CA’ in blue ink in the lower right by Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) with a handwritten dedication, also in blue ink, ‘To Alvin Lane’ along the lower center.
The Sketch for ‘The X & Its Tails’ is an original study and preliminary drawing made by Calder preceding his large-scale sculpture for the Detroit Institute of Arts. Sketches for models and sculptures are rare and this is no exception; according to Alvin S. Lane, collector and friend to Calder, “To the best of my knowledge there were very few, if any, preliminary drawings done by Calder that were on the market, but he was good enough when he did two for commissions to send the drawings to me as a present [including this Sketch for ‘The X & Its Tails’]. I included one of them here to show that although his drawings usually have a flowing steady line, his preliminary drawings are sloppy scribbles” (23).
Provenance:
~ Gift of artist
~ Private Collection (Riverdale, NJ)
Catalogue Raisonné and COA:
Sketch for 'The X & Its Tails,' 1967 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).
1. Registered with the Calder Foundation, NY under application number A.24492.
2. Elvehjem Museum of Art. The Terese and Alvin S. Lane Collection...
Category
1960s Modern Michel Gigon Art
