Past Exhibition

Alexander Calder

The artwork features a series of fluid, continuous lines forming an abstract depiction of a circus scene. The lines create an impression of performers and animals, including a trapeze artist suspended mid-air, a ringmaster, and figures on stilts. There are outlines resembling horses and a lion within a ring. The scene is set against a backdrop of curved lines that suggest the structure of a circus tent.
Alexander Calder, The Circus, 1932, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.6

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    East Building, Mezzanine, Northwest
The artwork features a series of fluid, continuous lines forming an abstract depiction of a circus scene. The lines create an impression of performers and animals, including a trapeze artist suspended mid-air, a ringmaster, and figures on stilts. There are outlines resembling horses and a lion within a ring. The scene is set against a backdrop of curved lines that suggest the structure of a circus tent.
Alexander Calder, The Circus, 1932, pen and black ink on wove paper, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1996.120.6

Overview: 15 3-dimensional objects, 17 works on paper, and 3 pieces of jewelry from the Perls collection celebrated the recent gift of Calder works from Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by Marla Prather, curator of 20th-century art at the National Gallery.

Attendance: 146,004

Catalog: Alexander Calder: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, by Marla Prather. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1997.

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