PALM DESERT, CA.- Heather James Fine Art - Palm Desert opens its 2015-2016 season with Picasso | Calder, an exhibition of fine artwork by Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder and an excellent lineup of contemporary art by Max Pellegrini and Kaoru Mansour. The exhibition opens on Saturday, November 28, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m.

Alexander Calder was a prolific American artist who infused his artwork with a wit and whimsy inspired by his early fascination with the circus. His childhood hobby of crafting objects from found materials initially led to a degree in engineering and applied kinetics. However, only four years later Calder enrolled in the Art Students league in New York in 1923, and began his first freelance art job in 1925. In doing so, Calder followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were classically trained and practicing artists.

In 1932, Calder exhibited his first moving sculpture in an exhibition organized by Marcel Duchamp, who coined the word "mobile." These kinetic sculptures are composed of wire counterbalanced with thin metal fins that are set in motion by random air currents to create natural movement. In addition to these sculptures, he created stabiles, or static sculptures, which are now installed in major museum collections around the world. His creation and elaboration of the mobile and stabile are his most lasting contributions to the history of art.

In addition to these sculptures, Alexander Calder created paintings, gouaches, drawings, prints, jewelry, and tapestries. Calder features several artworks from private collections that have never been exhibited, including a five-foot wide standing mobile constructed circa 1940.

Heather James Fine Art is located at 45188 Portola Avenue in Palm Desert and features a wide array of art ranging from Impressionist and Modern art to Post-War and Contemporary, American, Latin American, Old Master, Photography and Design. For more information about the gallery and upcoming exhibitions, please visit our website www.heatherjames.com or call the gallery at 760-346-8926.