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This free-floating sculpture, called a mobile, hangs from the ceiling. Thirteen flat, uniquely shaped paddles are suspended on curving, painted wires in bowing, branch-like forms. Three black crescent shapes hang to our right in this photograph. Ten crimson teardrops, ovals, and rounded triangular forms float in two tiers in an arc that descends gently to our left. The red shapes get smaller as they move away from the black forms. Three of the red shapes are pierced with holes.

Alexander Calder

Triple Gong, 1951

East Building, Tower Level — Gallery 606

Medium

steel, wire, brass, and paint

Dimensions

overall: 78.7 x 172.7 cm (31 x 68 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls

Accession Number

1996.120.27

Artists / Makers

Alexander Calder (sculptor) American, 1898 - 1976

Image Use

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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. 27, color repro.

1998: Alexander Calder: 1898-1976, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1998, no. 231, color repro.

2003: Calder: La Gravedad y la Gracia [Calder: Gravity and Grace], Museo Guggenheim Bilbao; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2003-2004, no. 39, repro.

2015: Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture, Tate, London, 2015-2016, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2018: Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2018-2019.

Bibliography

1997: Alexander Calder: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997: no. 27.

1998: Alexander Calder: 1898-1976. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1998: no. 231.