Archive | Calder Foundation

Spring 1953

Calder performs Cirque Calder in the Roxbury studio.

CF, Stillman to Breuer

1 May–13 June 1953

Frank Perls Gallery, Beverly Hills, exhibits “Alexander Calder Mobiles,” previously shown at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, from 22 March–19 April.

CF, exhibition file

1 July 1953

The Calder family arrives at Le Havre after an eight-day voyage on the Flandre. Also on board is Ernest Hemingway. He appeared suddenly and I presented myself, but it was not much use. For I had nothing to say to him and he had nothing to say to me. And that went for Louisa too.

CF, Calder to Valentin, 26 May; Calder 1966, 213

August 1953

The Calders visit Jean Davidson in the Loire Valley. Jean has purchased a mill house Moulin Vert, in the tiny town of Saché.

Calder 1966, 219–20; CF, Calder to Peggy, 8 September

Calder with Trapeze act performing Cirque Calder (1926–31), Galerie Maeght, 1953Photograph by Agnès Varda

14 October 1953

Daughter Sandra goes to live in Paris.

CF, Calder to Peggy, 13 October; Sandra to parents, 18 October

The Calders and friends with L'empennage and Myxomatose, Les Granettes, Christmas 1953

7 November 1953

Calder leaves Aix for Paris to begin filming Cirque de Calder, directed by Jean Painlevé.

CF, Calder to mother and the Sterns, 16 November

11 November 1953

Calder visits Jean and sees his renovated mill house in Saché. Calder agrees to a trade of three mobiles for François Premier, a dilapidated seventeenth-century stone house built adjoining a cliff on Jean’s property.

Calder, 1966, 220–21

Mid-November 1953

Calder rigs a studio in Jean’s mill and creates the mobiles. Through the winter, Jean organizes the renovation of François Premier and converts the wagon shed into a studio. A second small building across the street serves as the “gouacherie,” a painting studio.

Calder 1966, 219–20; CF, Calder to mother and the Sterns, 16 November

End of November 1953

Calder plans a trip to Beirut to visit his friend Henri Seyrig and to make the mobile commissioned by Middle East Airlines.

Calder 1966, 222; CF, Calder to mother and the Sterns, 16 November

Museum visitors viewing Laocoön (1947), II Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Museo de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1953

1954

1–5 January 1954

The Calder family travels on the Greek steamship Aurelia from Marseilles to Greece, where they spend the day in Athens.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 222

8 January 1954

The Calders stop in Alexandria, Egypt.

CF, passport

10 January 1954

The Calders arrive in Beirut after a stop in Limassol, Cyprus. They reside with the Seyrigs for a month, visiting Syria and Jordan by car.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 226

Calder working on Escutcheon, Beirut, Lebanon, January 1954

February 1954

American University, Beirut, exhibits works Calder made during the last month.

CF, exhibition file

4–6 February 1954

The Calder family visits Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

CF, passport; CF, Calder to mother, 9 February

11 February 1954

The Calders leave Beirut by plane and return to Aix.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 227

15 March 1954

Calder leaves Paris, traveling through Amsterdam to Hanover, where an exhibition of his work is scheduled to open at the Kestnergesellschaft.

CF, passport

18 March–2 May 1954

Kestnergesellschaft exhibits “Alexander Calder: Stabiles, Mobiles, Gouaches.”

CF, exhibition file

19 March 1954

Calder returns to Paris.

CF, passport

7–13 May 1954

Louisa and daughter Mary sail from Le Havre to New York.

CF, passport

15–16 June 1954

Calder flies from Paris to New York; daughter Sandra remains in France.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 231

24 July 1954

The renovation of François Premier is completed.

CF, Davidson to Calder, 24 July

20 October 1954

Calder returns to France, arriving in Le Havre.

CF, passport

Calder installing works for Aix. Saché. Roxbury. 1953–54, Galerie Maeght, Paris, 1954Photograph by Agnès Varda

23 November 1954

Calder leaves Paris and arrives in New York.

CF, passport

7 December 1954

A visa is issued for the Calders’ trip to India. Calder and Louisa have been invited by Gira Sarabhai, an architect and designer, to a tour of India in exchange for works of art.

Calder 1966, 231–32

29 December 1954

Calder and Louisa leave New York and arrive in Paris.

CF, passport

1955

9–10 January 1955

En route to Bombay, Calder and Louisa fly from Paris to Beirut. They visit the Seyrigs and show the film Works of Calder at the American University.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 232

Guava (1955), Gira Sarabhai's home, Ahmedabad, India, c. 1955

27 February 1955

After visiting Patna, the Calders arrive in Kathmandu in Nepal.

CF, passport

1 March 1955

The Calders leave Kathmandu for Patna from which they visit Delhi and Jaipur before returning to Bombay.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 232–40

8 or 9 March 1955

Calder has a private exhibition in Bombay of the works he has made in India. He contracts pneumonia and stays a few extra days to recover.

Calder 1966, 239–40

11–12 March 1955

The Calders leave Bombay, returning to Paris via Cairo and Athens.

Calder 1966, 240; CF, passport

21–22 March 1955

The Calders fly from Paris to New York.

CF, passport

25 March 1955

Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay, exhibits Calder’s work.

CF, exhibition file

After 12 May 1955

Calder gifts Varda a mobile for photographing him and his work over the years. I asked Foinet to give you a mobile—your choice—among many, of a medium size that I left at the studio.

CF, Calder to Varda, 12 May

17 May–4 June 1955

Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, exhibits “Alexander Calder.” Calder agrees to hold the show as scheduled, in spite of Valentin’s death the previous year. Nothing sells.

Calder 1966, 240

15 August 1955

Calder arrives in Caracas. He sets up a studio at the metal shop of the Universidad Central de Venezuela and sees Acoustic Ceiling installed in Aula Magna for the first time. Louisa plans to join Calder in Caracas, but a tornado hits Connecticut and causes extensive flooding; she

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 242

Calder and Carlos Raúl Villanueva with Asiento del diablo, Caracas, 1955Photograph by Paolo Gasparini

12–13 September 1955

Calder leaves Caracas, arriving in New York en route to Roxbury.

CF, passport

19 October 1955

The Calders arrive in France for the marriage of their daughter, Sandra, to Jean Davidson.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 246

Louisa Calder with daughter Sandra Calder Davidson and Jean Davidson on their wedding day, Saché, 1955

Hextopus installed at U.S. Consulate, Frankfurt, 1955

16 November 1955

The Calders return to France by car.

CF, passport

19–20 November 1955

From Paris, the Calders take a train to Brussels. They fly to New York and return to Roxbury.

CF, passport

December 1955

Pantheon Books publishes A Bestiary, edited by Richard Wilbur, with illustrations by Calder.

CF, project file

1956

6 February–10 March 1956

Perls Galleries, New York, exhibits “Calder.” This is Calder’s first show with his new dealers, Klaus and Dolly Perls.

CF, exhibition file

18 February 1956

The Calders arrive in France.

CF, passport

1 March 1956

The Calders drive to Italy, entering via Ponte S. Luigi. While in Rome they stay at the foot of the Janiculum Hill, where Calder sets up a studio.

CF, passport; CF, del Corso to Calder, 6 February

14–31 March 1956

Galleria dell’Obelisco, Rome, presents “Calder,” which travels to Galleria d’Arte del Naviglio, Milan, and Circolo della Cultura e delle Arti, Trieste.

CF, exhibition file

Before 16 April 1956

The Calders leave Italy for France.

CF, del Corso to Calder, 16 April

11–12 May 1956

The Calders leave Paris, arriving in New York en route to Roxbury.

CF, passport

Water Ballet, General Motors Complex, Michigan, 1956

8 September 1956

The Calders arrive in Paris en route to Saché.

CF, passport

4 October 1956

The Calders’ grandson, Shawn Davidson, is born in Tours, France, to Sandra and Jean Davidson.

Calder 1966, 252

18 October–21 November 1956

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, exhibits “Jewelry and Drawings by Alexander Calder.” Forty-one pieces of jewelry are exhibited.

CF, exhibition file

13–14 November 1956

The Calders fly from Paris to New York.

CF, passport

1957

Calder, Roxbury studio, 1957. The Cock's Comb hangs overhead.Photograph by Arnold Newman

18 February–16 March 1957

Frank Perls Gallery, Beverly Hills, exhibits “Alexander Calder.”

CF, exhibition file

7 March 1957

Calder attends the screening of 8×8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements at the Museum of Modern Art. Directed by Hans Richter, the film brings together Arp, Paul Bowles, Calder, Cocteau, Duchamp, Kiesler, Jacqueline Matisse, Sert, and Tanguy, among others.

CF, project file

15 March 1957

The Committee of Art Advisors at UNESCO approves Calder’s maquette for a standing mobile. Titled Spirale, the mobile top is made by Calder at Segré’s Iron Works in Connecticut and the stabile bottom is made with the collaboration of Jean Prouvé in France.

CF, Evans to Calder, 15 March

24 March 1957

Illustrator Réne Bouché draws a portrait of Calder with Louisa and daughter Mary in Roxbury.

CF, object file

9 April 1957

At Waterbury Iron Works in Connecticut, Calder finishes the mobile commissioned by the Port Authority of New York. He initially titles it .125, the gauge of the aluminum elements, although the work is later dubbed Flight. The mobile is placed in a storeroom near the International Arrivals

CF, project file

12 June 1957

The Calders and daughter Mary arrive in Paris.

CF, passport

Le Palud, Calder's house and studio in Brittany, 1957

25–30 July 1957

The family arrives in Spain for a visit with Peter Bellew (writer) and his wife Ellen. They also visit Artigas, a ceramicist, in Gallifa (Barcelona) before returning to France.

CF, passport

22 August 1957

The Calders and daughter Mary leave Paris for London.

CF, passport

2 September 1957

The Calders and daughter Mary leave London and arrive in New York.

CF, passport

Calder reviewing the installation of .125, Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport), New York, 1957

1958

The Whirling Ear, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, 1958

10 February–8 March 1958

Perls Galleries, New York, exhibits “Calder, Recent Works.”

CF, exhibition file

Spring 1958

Calder builds a second studio in Roxbury.

Lipman 1976, 335

5–29 June 1958

The Glory Folk, a ballet choreographed by John Butler with sets by Calder, is performed during the “Festival of Two Worlds,” Spoleto, Italy. Calder flies to Spoleto to oversee the construction of his sets.

CF, project file

11 June 1958

The Calders arrive in Paris.

CF, passport

Spirale, Palais de l'UNESCO, Paris, 1958Photograph by Budd

17 September 1958

The Calders arrive in New York.

CF, passport

1959

4 February 1959

Calder goes to Paris to arrange a solo exhibition at Galerie Maeght.

FJM, Calder to Prats, 24 March

Installation photograph, Calder: Stabiles, Galerie Maeght, Paris, 1959

10 March 1959

Calder leaves Paris.

FJM, Calder to Prats, 24 March

12 March 1959

Calder leases an apartment for daughter Mary at 20 Jones Street in New York City.

CF, lease agreement

15 May–22 June 1959

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, exhibits “Alexander Calder, Stabilen, Mobilen.” The catalogue texts are “Stabiles” by Georges Salles and “Calder und die mobiles” by Willem Sandberg. The exhibition travels to Hamburg, Krefeld, Mannheim, Wuppertal, and Zurich.

CF, exhibition file

24 May 1959

Calder and Louisa host dinner at their home in Roxbury in honor of the AICA (International Association of Art Critics) XIth General Assembly.

CF, business file

2 June 1959

The Calders arrive in the Netherlands.

CF, passport

3 June 1959

The Calders arrive in Le Bourget, France.

CF, passport

31 August 1959

The Calders receive a visa from the Brazilian Consulate in Paris.

CF, passport

September 1959

The Calders depart Paris and arrive in Rio de Janeiro, where they spend a month at the Gloria Hotel. During their stay, they visit Brazil’s new capital, Brasília.

CF, passport; Calder 1966, 253

1 October 1959

The Calders leave Brazil.

CF, passport

1960

24 February 1960

Calder is elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, and is inducted on 25 May.

CF, awards file

25 February 1960

The Calders return to Brazil for the Carnaval.

CF, passport

7 March 1960

The Calders leave Brazil, returning to the United States.

CF, passport