Phillips to feature monumental Calder mobile in May evening sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, December 14, 2024


Phillips to feature monumental Calder mobile in May evening sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art
Alexander Calder 39=50, 1959. Estimate: $10,500,000 - 14,500,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.



NEW YORK, NY.- After nearly three decades in a private collection, Alexander Calder’s monumental 39=50 will be offered at auction in Phillips’ New York Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art on 18 May. Executed in 1959 and estimated at $10.5-14.5 million, the mobile resided in the collection of French entrepreneur François Pinault for more than a decade, and it was included in the landmark retrospective of Calder’s work in 1964 at the Guggenheim. When offered at auction in May, 39=50 will carry one of the highest estimates ever assigned to a hanging mobile by Calder.

Robert Manley, Deputy Chairman and Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, said, “Part of Alexander Calder’s enduring appeal is how timely and fresh his works feel, even decades after they were created, and that is very much the case with 39=50. It’s a historically important work that is directly related to and a part of one of the artist’s most sought-after series, and boasts both distinguished ownership and exhibition histories. And yet, Calder’s ability to capture harmony and tension, here in simple white, is incredibly contemporary. It’s a combination that is certain to appeal to both established and new collectors.”

Between 1946 and 1959, Calder created approximately 11 Snow Flurry mobiles based on the snowfall at his home in Roxbury. The present work is distinguished from the series with its distinct title. 39=50’s singular title encapsulates both the number of elements and the intimate story behind the work’s journey from the artist’s studio. In 1961, Calder’s close friend Peter Bellew requested a mobile with 50 white elements in celebration of his wife’s 50th birthday. Since the artist did not have a sculpture with 50 elements available, he gave the present work to Bellew with its current title.

Alexander Calder’s 39=50 is a magnificent example of the artist’s unique ability to capture both the harmony and tension innate in the natural world and its forms. Closely related to Calder’s highly coveted series of Snow Flurry mobiles, the work comprises 39 white discs that delicately flutter in space in a masterful triumph of balance and kinetic poetry. 39=50’s cascading discs, like the natural forms they so cunningly emulate, dance before the viewer’s eyes as the slightest gust of air or beam of light arouses the sculpture’s infinite visual possibilities. Arriving to auction for the first time in nearly 30 years, 39=50 notably featured in Calder’s major 1960s retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Milwaukee Art Center, Wisconsin, and Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris - the most comprehensive exhibition on the artist at the time.

The Snow Flurry mobiles have established formidable institutional interest, with 10 out of 11 works residing in institutions across North America, South America, and Europe. 39=50 is the first sculpture with Calder’s “Snow Flurry” design to come to auction in a decade. In 2012, Snow Flurry, 1950, sold for $10,386,500 in New York - the highest price ever achieved for a hanging mobile at the time and currently within the artist’s top 10 auction records to date.

In advance of the exhibition in New York, the work will go on view in Taiwan alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled and Matthew Wong’s Day 1.










Today's News

March 29, 2022

Artis-Naples, The Baker Museum announces opening of spring exhibitions

ARCOlisboa 2022 returns to celebrate its 5th anniversary

Ketterer Kunst pulls out of Russia

Phillips to feature monumental Calder mobile in May evening sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art

Crypto art pioneer Olive Allen announces Postmasters Gallery solo show and representation

Warhol Screen Tests: Evocative short films to be shown at the Currier Museum

Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck opens 'Bettina Pousttchi: Fluidity'

Picasso's 'Grand Tete de Femme,' Warhol's '$' among highlights in Heritage Auctions' April Prints & Multiples Event

Phillips announces 10 distinguished works from the prestigious Anderson Family Collection

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens announces Revolve: Spotlight on the Permanent Collection

MGM Resorts reshapes public fine art collection with focus on diversity, equity and inclusion

Lunar dust collected by Neil Armstrong on first mission to Moon comes to auction

Galleria Continua announces the representation of artist Ana Maria Tavares

Location chosen for Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art

Christie's Jewels presents 'The Flawless Star' - Highest valued jewel offered in an online-only auction

Highly desirable glass pieces change hands earch 19th at Woody Auction

New Exhibition at Missoula Art Museum showcases work by Indigenous artist

Louisiana opens the first large-scale retrospective in Scandinavia of the work of Diane Arbus

The Ukrainian Institute of America presents A Living Installation of Ukrainian Easter Eggs

UOVO partners with collector Howard Rachofksy and advisor John Runyan to acquire 85,000-square-foot facility in Dallas

Museum acquires 1774 printing of powerful letter rebuking slavery written by African American poet Phillis Wheatley

Ioana Stanca's NYC debut opens at the Romanian Cultural Institute

Anna Laudel Düsseldorf opens Tuğçe Diri's first solo exhibition in Germany

Kimsooja exhibits three works at the Oratori de Sant Feliu in Palma de Mallorca

Spin Casino with the most attractive bonuses

STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO WRITING AN ESSAY - 2022 guide

BENEFITS OF THE USE OF FLOOR TILES

Has Roulette Featured Within Any Famous Art?

Why domain name is important

Al Solutions Can Enhance The Growth of Your Business




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful