Alexander Calder (1898-1976)
Lot 579 Property from a Private Philadelphia Collection

Alexander Calder (1898-1976)

Positive and Negative Discs (maquette)

Closed18 May 2017

Price Realised

USD 223,500

More Information

How to sell

Alexander Calder (1898-1976)
Positive and Negative Discs (maquette)
signed with the artist's monogram 'CA' (on the largest leg)
stabile—painted sheet metal
11 1/4 x 12 x 10 in. (28.5 x 30.4 x 25.4 cm.)
Executed in 1968.

Perls Gallery, New York
Benjamin Mangel Gallery, Bala Cynwyd, 1976
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1976

Specialist note

This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A08288.

The present work is a model for two larger sculptures, one owned by the City of Philadelphia (Three Discs, One Lacking) and one titled Three Discs, One Missing.

“Trapper of iron
Catcher of the wind
Tamer of black beasts
Laughing engineer
Startling architect
Sculptor of time
Such a man is Calder.”

Jacques Prévert, “Oiseleur du fer,” in Derriére le miroir, no. 156 (Paris: Foundation Maeght, 1966).