Boys and Girls
22 7/8 x 30 3/4 inches eachBoys and Girls, 1969
paper: 22 5/8 x 30 1/2 inches
frame: 24 x 32 inches
Signed and dated 69 lower right
Accompanied with Perls Galleries Photo Certificate #9753/P5701
Provenance
Perls Galleries, New York
Collection of Renate & Sidney Shapiro, New York
Private Collection, New York
Additional Photos
Signature & Date lower right
In the early part of the 20th Century, the appreciation of ethnographic objects across Europe and North America impacted the International avant-garde, particularly Surrealist Artists in various ways. In 1928 while living in New York, Alexander Calder started carving sculptures out of tropical woods, a technique influenced by his appreciation of African and Pre-Columbian art.
ALEXANDER CALDER: THE INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN & OCEANIC ART
In the early part of the 20th Century, the appreciation of ethnographic objects across Europe and North America impacted the International avant-garde, particularly Surrealist Artists in various ways. In 1928 while living in New York, Alexander Calder started carving sculptures out of tropical woods, a technique influenced by his appreciation of African and Pre-Columbian art.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hirshhorn , 1966
Collection The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
In 1945, Alexander Calder began showcasing his series of gouache works on paper at the renowned Kootz Gallery. The pieces quickly gained popularity, earning acclaim from both the public and critics, who saw Calder as a potential rival to Klee and Miró. His gouaches captured a sense of playfulness and humor—qualities that Calder upheld throughout his career, often reinterpreting his iconic visual vocabulary in innovative ways.
Alexander Calder Boys and Girls, 1969, gouache on paper is unique, like all Calder artworks; this unique gouache on paper exemplifies Calder’s appreciation for African and Oceanic Art. Similar African influenced Alexander Calder gouaches are included in numerous museum collections, including The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Saatchi Gallery in London and Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan.
Le Buveur d’Eau, 1967
Chez Kay: Property from the Collection of Kay Unger
Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2021, Lot 203, $378,000 USD
Alexander Calder Boys and Girls, 1969 reflects a significant moment in the Artist's journey. In Calder's Boys and Girls, the Artist incorporates the spiral, common in late Bronze Age artifacts a motif Calser repeatedly used in his paintings, standing mobiles, wire sculptures, drawings and jewelry.
In Boys and Girls, Calder blends African iconography with a whimsical touch, featuring exaggerated portrayals of a boy and girl; the spiral form and stripes borrowed from African art.
Inspired by African tribal art, #AlexanderCalder 1945 small gouache fetches $162,500 at #FreemansAuction, exceeding $50,000-$80,000 pre-sale estimate. https://t.co/tbPH9wijn8 pic.twitter.com/WXMwSB4W9N
— Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd. (@JKLFA) November 17, 2020