1 / 1

zoom is not available
image compare is not available
download is not available

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

East Building, Tower Level — Gallery 606

Medium

metal, wire, and paint

Dimensions

overall: 221 x 243.8 cm (87 x 96 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls

Accession Number

1996.120.5

Artists / Makers

Alexander Calder (sculptor) American, 1898 - 1976

Image Use

This image is unavailable for download.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .
Contact us about image usage .

Inscription

on lowest vertically-oriented red element in monogram: CA; sequentially on each vertically-oriented element, starting with the next-to-lowest red element, a number on each element: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12

Provenance

Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, New York; gift 1996 to NGA.

Associated Names

Perls, Klaus

Exhibition History

1997: Alexander Calder: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1997, no. 24, color repro.

1998: Alexander Calder: 1898-1976, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1998, not in cat. (shown only in Washington).

2009: Calder: Sculptor of Air, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 2009-2010, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1997: Alexander Calder: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997: no. 24.