Alexander CalderAmerican, 1898–1976Spiny Top, Curly Bottom
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
This sculpture is a study in contrasts. The upper half is composed of sharp-edged, angular forms that extend in four directions. This jagged top is opposed by four wave-like curlicues that also function as a base. Although made of machine-cut steel, the large sculpture displays weightless grace. And despite its elaborate design, the work stands elegantly and alone, entirely self-supporting. Alexander Calder committed the latter part of his career to the creation of stabiles--stationary sculptures in contrast to his kinetic mobiles. He produced his first large-scale sheet metal stabile in 1937. Later in his career--as with *Spiny Top, Curly Bottom* --Calder sent detailed designs to an ironworks, which fabricated his sculptures. In the 1960s and 1970s, Calder created colossal stabiles for public sites around the world.
Read on
This sculpture was originally black, but refinished in red at the request of its first owner. Many younger American sculptors working during the 1960s and 1970s embraced the aggressive, unvarnished appearance of raw materials like steel and aluminum. But Calder strove for the very opposite: light-hearted and colorful forms.
J. Paul Getty Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 2005.104.1
In the catalog
Sources
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Image: J. Paul Getty Museum — ; In Copyright
Meanwhile, in the life of Alexander Calder
The whole life1963
A workshop at Saché above the Chevrière valley
In 1963 Calder settles into a new workshop overlooking the valley of the Lower Chevrière to the village of Saché in Indre-et-Loire, France; he later donates a sculpture to the town, which since 1974 has stood in the town square. Most of his monumental works after 1962 are made at Établissements Biémont in Tours: he makes a model, the engineering department scales it up under his direction, and technicians complete the metalwork.
1964
The retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum
A major retrospective of Calder’s work is held in 1964 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
28 June 1964 – 6 October 1964
Exhibition: Documenta III
