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Black Dots

A work made of sheet steel, string, and paint.
© 2018 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of sheet steel, string, and paint.

Date:

1941

Artist:

Alexander Calder
American, 1898–1976

About this artwork

Alexander Calder arrived in Paris in 1926 and soon forged an inventive new artistic path with caricature wire portraits and animals; he even produced a full circus environment in which he also performed. In the early 1930s, Calder began to make unconventional sculptures from flat pieces of steel, which he cut into biomorphic forms reminiscent of the work of his friends Joan Miró and Jean Arp. He bent, welded, and painted the steel pieces, assembling them into fixed (“stabile”) or moving (“mobile”) constructions, like Black Dots. These revolutionary works, presented without a traditional pedestal and often suspended from above, allowed Calder to explore the organic nature of artistic form as it continually shifted and evolved in the environment in which it was installed.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Alexander Calder

Title

Black Dots

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1941

Medium

Sheet steel, string, and paint

Dimensions

78.7 × 88.9 × 38.1 cm (31 × 35 × 15 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Gilbert W. Chapman

Reference Number

1954.437

Copyright

© 2018 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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