artnet launches Alexander Calder Sale featuring 36 prints and works on paper by the artist
Published December 16th, 2008
From December 10-18 artnet Online Auctions will feature a special sale of prints and works on paper by Alexander Calder from the 1960s and 1970s.
Leading the sale is a group of 28 prints with estimates from $500-$3,000. Three works from 1969, Dents de scie (estimate: $500-700), Encore de l’acier (estimate: $1,800-$2,200), and Charpente de fer (estimate: $1,200-1,500), each signed by the artist, employ the strong black lines and biomorphic forms prevalent in the artist’s three-dimensional mobiles. Two McGovern screenprints, 1972, each signed and numbered by the artist, reflect the political climate of the early 1970s (estimates: $300-$500 and $400-$600).
Also offered in this section are four lithographs from the artist’s Flying Colors series, Sunburst (1973), Beastie (1973), Friendship (1974) and Skybird (1974) each stamped with an embossed cachet of “The Flying Colors” (estimates: $500-700 each). These works reflect the artist’s characteristic use of bold primary colors and kinetic forms to depict both abstract and concrete subjects.
The sale also features several works on paper executed between 1963 and 1974. Untitled, tamanoir, 1963 ($18,000-28,000) is a rare work in gouache over pencil on folded paper given by the artist to novelist James Jones. Other highlights include six rare etchings, two created by Calder in collaboration with E. E. Cummings for his play Santa Claus: A Morality (estimates: $1,000-2,000 each) and three from the book La Proue de La Table created by the artist in collaboration with French Surrealist Yves Elléouët. The wire-like lines in these etchings echo the artist’s celebrated wire sculptures.
“The current Alexander Calder exhibition at The Whitney Museum highlights the artist’s tremendous contribution to the history of modern art” said Deborah Ripley, Senior Prints Specialist with artnet Online Auctions. “This sale offers collectors at every level the opportunity to acquire a work by this important artist.”
Sale Contacts:
Lori Yarotsky
Modern & Contemporary Art Specialist
lyarotsky@artnet.com
+1-212-497-9700 Ext. 175?
Deb Ripley
Senior Prints Specialist
dripley@artnet.com
+1-212-497-9700 Ext. 174
Max Wolf
Auction Specialist
mwolf@artnet.com
+1-212-497-9700 Ext. 399
