Provenance

Klaus Perls

American, born Germany, 1912 - 2008

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See all 36 works of art
This free-floating sculpture, called a mobile, hangs from a wall or the ceiling. At the top, four wires curve upward in a spray, two to each side. Below, six wires bow in descending branch-like forms. Eleven small shapes, each in the form of a ball, comma, hourglass-like shape, or paddle, is affixed to or hangs from the end of each wire, and each is a single color in black, yellow, or red.
Alexander Calder, Untitled (The Constellation Mobile), 1941, wire, wood, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.7

Untitled (The Constellation Mobile)

Alexander Calder · 1941 · wire, wood, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.7

Alexander Calder, Four White Petals, 1960, sheet metal, rod, bolts, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.16

Four White Petals

Alexander Calder · 1960 · sheet metal, rod, bolts, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.16

This free-floating sculpture, called a mobile, hangs from the ceiling and branches into two separate, vertical sections that hang from a shared wire. To our left, the larger part of the mobile is made of twelve flat, uniquely shaped paddles suspended on curving, painted wires in bowing, branch-like forms. Three black, leaf-like shapes are clustered at the top over a royal-blue form, a lemon-yellow form, two more black shapes, and five crimson-red shapes that get smaller as they get closer to the bottom. They are loosely spaced but hung to taper like a bunch of grapes. To our right, a second smaller set of branches and shapes, like a mini mobile, is made of seven branches. In this photograph, five of the rounded, black shapes hanging from the dangling wires face us and the others are seen from their edge, so appear as vertical lines.
Alexander Calder, Cascading Flowers, 1949, metal, wire, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.5

Cascading Flowers

Alexander Calder · 1949 · metal, wire, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.5

The sculpture is made of thin black wire and depicts the abstract outline of a cow. The wire is skillfully twisted and looped to outline the cow's anatomy, including its head, with ears and a nose, two long horns, an udder that hangs down towards the ground, and curled wire for its legs. The head of the cow faces the right. Behind the cow, on the ground to the left, is a small pile of twisted wire that resembles a pile of feces.
Alexander Calder, Cow, 1929, brass and copper wire, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.11

Cow

Alexander Calder · 1929 · brass and copper wire ·  Accession ID  1996.120.11

Two disks, one black and one white, and ten smaller red disks hang from eleven red wire branches in this free-floating sculpture, called a mobile. The uppermost branch ends with the white disk jutting out to our right, and the next ends with the black disk, projecting out and slightly up to our left. The red disks cluster in a loose line below, some higher and some drooping down. The mobile is suspended with an unseen filament in a white room in this photograph.
Alexander Calder, Black, White, and Ten Red, 1957, sheet metal, wire, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.3

Black, White, and Ten Red

Alexander Calder · 1957 · sheet metal, wire, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.3

This sculpture is made up of ten shapes connected with rigid, straight brown wire to create an interlocking, web-like formation that rests on the floor. Five of the shapes appear to be raw wood and the other five are painted. Four of the painted shapes are dark gray. The fifth painted piece, at the upper left in this photograph, has a wooden cone-shaped tip pointing downward beneath a black and white mid-section, and an angular, hourglass-shaped tail painted in triangular blocks of red, blue, and black. The other wooden and painted shapes range in size and form, with an almond-shaped piece at the center, rounded pieces throughout, and two rounded hour-glass shaped pieces near the upper left.
Alexander Calder, Vertical Constellation with Bomb, 1943, wire, wood, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.8

Vertical Constellation with Bomb

Alexander Calder · 1943 · wire, wood, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.8

The sculpture has a tripod-like base with a flat, elongated horizontal element and two oblong, upright pieces on top. The lower part is warm brown, while the top elements are dark in color. The piece stands on three splayed legs that taper to a point at the bottom.
Alexander Calder, Untitled (The Wood Mobile), 1943, wood and wire, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.30

Untitled (The Wood Mobile)

Alexander Calder · 1943 · wood and wire ·  Accession ID  1996.120.30

Three geometric structures are suspended with wire from a rod in this free-floating sculpture called a mobile. The supporting rod is black and hangs from the ceiling by a clear filament. To the left is a curved, twisting, C-shaped piece of sheet metal painted black on one side and cobalt blue on the other. To the right, a red ball and a yellow, toothpick-shaped shaft are connected by a second black rod. A wire connects the two rods so the ball and shaft balance to either side.
Alexander Calder, Untitled (The McCausland Mobile), 1937, sheet metal, wood, wire, string, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.19

Untitled (The McCausland Mobile)

Alexander Calder · 1937 · sheet metal, wood, wire, string, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.19

Alexander Calder, Ruby-Eyed, 1936, sheet metal, glass, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.23

Ruby-Eyed

Alexander Calder · 1936 · sheet metal, glass, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.23

The outline of a fish is made with bent, colored wire and then hung with fragments of colored glass to loosely resemble scales in this free-floating sculpture. In this photograph, the open mouth faces our left. The body is made with a thick gauge, mustard-yellow wire. Finer, gold-colored wire creates a honeycomb-like pattern within the body. Pieces of colored glass hang within most of the cells. The irregularly shaped pieces are clear or in tones of brick red, indigo or sky blue, amber brown, pearl white, or emerald green. A few cells have little bits of metal, including a washer, a disk pierced with holes, and a spiraling piece of wire. The thicker yellow wire makes a circle near the mouth, creating an eye, which is hung with two pieces of glass in plum purple and pale lilac. To our right, the tail is as tall as the body and half its length. It is outlined with thick, red wire. Another piece of wire runs along the middle of the tail, and thinner red wire is strung from the central wire to the upper and lower edges, mimicking the rays of the fish’s fin. A fin along the bottom center of the fish’s body is made with thick, royal-blue wire that balances across the bottom rim of the fish. On the side closer to us, the blue wire is bent into a boomerang shape. It is suspended within a cell close to the bottom of the fish’s body, and is balanced on the far side with a piece of cobalt-blue glass. A hand-shaped pendant hangs from the point of the fin closest to us. The wall behind the hanging sculpture is fog gray.
Alexander Calder, Finny Fish, 1948, steel rod, wire, glass, objects, and paint, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.15

Finny Fish

Alexander Calder · 1948 · steel rod, wire, glass, objects, and paint ·  Accession ID  1996.120.15