Sunday, March 02, 2008

A VFG Must See....Calder Jewelry at the Norton Museum of Art

If you thought ALEXANDER CALDER only made uber-modern mobiles and sculptures, well, you'd be like me but you would also (like me) be wrong. Alexander Calder also worked in metals making jewelery.

A 1940's necklace....

Alexander's wife, Louisa Calder's 53rd birthday gift pin, 1958....

These are just a few of Calder's works in the realm of jewelry being shown now through June 15 at the NORTON MUSEUM OF ART in West Palm Beach, Florida.

From the write up...

The art of Alexander Calder has been celebrated and examined at some length in numerous exhibitions. However, his work in the field of jewelry is not so well-known, and when shown has been just a small component of large survey exhibitions. Indeed, Calder dealt with this field much as he did in his other work: the jewelry has the same linear yet three-dimensional aspect as the mobiles, and the parts that comprise each piece are hammered, shaped, chiseled and composed in a fashion that precisely echoes the artist’s creation of his sculpture. This exhibition will consist of approximately one hundred objects—necklaces, bracelets, pins, earrings, and crowns.

If you're in Palm Beach or nearby, don't miss this exhibit! And if you, like me, covet the Calder-esque grace and sleek style of his mobiles, an affordable and very similar style is available in fantastic colorways on ETSY from designer ALEXANDER.MOBILES. I like this one in pink!

Sartre was quoted as saying about Calder's work....

"There is more of the unpredictable about them than in any other human creation … A general destiny of movement is sketched for them, and then they are left to work it out for themselves".

Accurate and lovely. Calder with his sculpture/mobile Myxomatose, 1953...

If you can't get there, enjoy some of the links provided to get to know more about Calder and his works!