GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Alexander Calder's Flower is a delicate and whimsical study of balance and motion. Informed by the most important art movements in early 20th-century Europe, Calder's work has always been greatly inspired by the rhythms and movements of nature. Liberating sculpture from its pedestal, Calder revolutionized the medium and introduced motion into modern art. Dallas's mobile, Flower, combines a Constructivist's love of the mechanical, a Dadaist's sense of play, a Futurist's celebration of movement, and a Surrealist's exploration of the organic and biomorphic. Flower is a unique universe of forms, turning, moving, and dancing, quietly and gently. It represents not only the earth, said Calder, but also "the miles of gas above it, volcanoes upon it, and the moon making circles around it."
Adapted from
- Suzanne Weaver, "Flower," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 272.
- DMA unpublished material, Label copy.
NOTES
Label copy: Flower is a delicate and whimsical study of balance and motion. Trained in painting at the Art Students League in New York, Alexander Calder became interested in abstract art after visiting the Paris studio of Piet Mondrian in 1930. While struck by the rhythms of Mondrian’s paintings, Calder wanted to capture this dynamism through sculpture. His groundbreaking solution took the form of the mobile, a hanging wire structure propelled only by air currents. With fluid lines, organic shapes, and primary colors, Calder’s mobiles produce continuously shifting compositions as they quietly spin and turn.
- I have not gone through the object file for this object, but Fran Bass has had it forever, for the conservation, and I'm just going ahead and routing this, marked %provprobs
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Gift of the Dallas Garden Club in honor of Mrs. Alex Camp
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- DMA Uncrated~Read about the conservation and reinstallation of Calder's Flower.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- This work was the first acquisition for the DMA's Contemporary art department.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1949.13
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General Description
Alexander Calder's Flower is a delicate and whimsical study of balance and motion. Informed by the most important art movements in early 20th-century Europe, Calder's work has always been greatly inspired by the rhythms and movements of nature. Liberating sculpture from its pedestal, Calder revolutionized the medium and introduced motion into modern art. Dallas's mobile, Flower, combines a Constructivist's love of the mechanical, a Dadaist's sense of play, a Futurist's celebration of movement, and a Surrealist's exploration of the organic and biomorphic. Flower is a unique universe of forms, turning, moving, and dancing, quietly and gently. It represents not only the earth, said Calder, but also "the miles of gas above it, volcanoes upon it, and the moon making circles around it."
Adapted from
- Suzanne Weaver, "Flower," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 272.
- DMA unpublished material, Label copy.
Fun Facts
- This work was the first acquisition for the DMA's Contemporary art department.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Label copy: Flower is a delicate and whimsical study of balance and motion. Trained in painting at the Art Students League in New York, Alexander Calder became interested in abstract art after visiting the Paris studio of Piet Mondrian in 1930. While struck by the rhythms of Mondrian’s paintings, Calder wanted to capture this dynamism through sculpture. His groundbreaking solution took the form of the mobile, a hanging wire structure propelled only by air currents. With fluid lines, organic shapes, and primary colors, Calder’s mobiles produce continuously shifting compositions as they quietly spin and turn.
- I have not gone through the object file for this object, but Fran Bass has had it forever, for the conservation, and I'm just going ahead and routing this, marked %provprobs
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Gift of the Dallas Garden Club in honor of Mrs. Alex Camp
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1949.13
source file
object_notes_2_d-0469.xml.nores