Provenance
Galerie Maeght, Paris
Brook Street Gallery, London (1970)
Private Collection, Los Angeles
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Inc., Los Angeles (1989)
Feingarten Galleries, Beverly Hills (1993)
Private Collection, USA
Phillips, New York, 12 November 2013, lot 235
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited
Milan, Studio Marconi, Calder, 1971 (illustrated, no. 19)
New York and London, Gagosian Gallery, Alexander Calder – Gouaches, 8 May - 29 August 2014
Singapore, ArtScience Museum, SERPENTIform, 19 August - 15 October 2017 (illustrated, p.42)
Andorra, ARTALROC, Escaldes-Engordany, Calder: La Geometria del colour, 22 May - 2 September 2018
Seoul, K Museum of Contemporary Art, Calder on Paper, 13 December 2019 – 13 April 2020
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Calder: The Great Yellow Sun, 23 February 2021 – 14 August 2021 (illustrated, p. 126)
Catalogue Essay
‘What I produce is not precisely what I have in mind—but a sort of sketch, a man-made approximation. That others grasp what I have in mind seems unessential...as long as they have something else in theirs.’ – Alexander Calder

In addition to his renowned work as a sculptor, Alexander Calder also worked extensively in the medium of gouache on paper. Drawing upon his earlier explorations into illustration and drawing, Calder created his first series of gouache paintings during his yearlong stay in Aix-en-Provence in 1953, and they would continue to form a significant contribution to his prolific practice for the duration of his career. Appropriating and incorporating many of the familiar motifs developed in his sculptures, and executed in his signature, striking palette of black, white and primary colours – vermillion red and amber yellow - these playful, enigmatic works embody the essence of Calder’s practice in two-dimensional form.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1898, Calder originally trained as an engineer, before fully committing to his artistic practice in 1923. Hailed as the creator of the ‘mobile’, he was informed by his expertise in kinetics, mechanics, and other technical disciplines and his familiarity with industrious materials, and inspired by the pioneering Surrealist aesthetics of Paris in the 1930s, attaining one of the most prolific and successful artistic careers of the 20th Century. Today, his works are held many of the world’s most prestigious collections, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Gallery in London.
Artist Biography
Alexander Calder
American • 1898 - 1976
Alexander Calder worked as an abstract sculptor and has been commonly referred to as the creator of the mobile. He employed industrious materials of wire and metal and transformed them into delicate geometric shapes that respond to the wind or float in air. Born into a family of sculptors, Calder created art from childhood and moved to Paris in 1926, where he became a pioneer of the international avant-garde. In addition to his mobiles, Calder produced an array of public constructions worldwide as well as drawings and paintings that feature the same brand of abstraction. Calder was born in Lawnton, Pennsylvania.

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26

Alexander Calder

Snakes Puzzle

signed and dated 'Calder 70' lower right
gouache and ink on paper
74.3 x 109.2 cm (29 1/4 x 42 7/8 in.)
Executed in 1970.

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1
Andy Warhol
Two works: i-ii) Flowers
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Stephan Vanfleteren
Marine Oostduinkerke 3
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Stephan Vanfleteren
Marine Oostduinkerke 2
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Stephan Vanfleteren
Marine Oostduinkerke 1
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5
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6
Walter Swennen
Untitled
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Léon Spilliaert
Marine with sunset
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Ettore Spalletti
Grigio, oro
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Sterling Ruby
ASHTRAY 30
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Sterling Ruby
SP73
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Loïc Raguénès
Les Parfums de la Nuit
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Joan Miro
Sans titre
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Tony Matelli
565
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14
Robert Mapplethorpe
Waves
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15
Sol LeWitt
Untitled
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16
Sol LeWitt
Tangled Bands
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17
Laurens Legiers
A Snail's Journey
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18
Titus Kaphar
Untitled Tar Piece
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19
Hans Hartung
T1971-H50
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20
David Hammons
Head warmer
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21
Gilbert & George
Piss Piss Piss
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Bernard Frize
Obias
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23
Peter Dreher
Tag um Tag guter Tag (Day by Day good Day) Nr. 2520
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24
Peter Dreher
Tag um Tag guter Tag (Day by Day good Day) Nr. 2522
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25
Raoul De Keyser
Oostende (Tornado)
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26
Alexander Calder
Snakes Puzzle
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27
Alexander Calder
Crag with White Flower and White Discs
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28
Alexander Calder
L'Ile Verte
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29
Guillaume Bijl
"James Ensor in Oostende" circa 1920
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Provenance

Exhibited

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Alexander Calder

26

Alexander Calder

Snakes Puzzle

Summer Wave

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