Long Nose

Details

ALEXANDER CALDER (1898-1976)
Long Nose
stabile—sheet metal and paint
22 3⁄4 x 24 1⁄4 x 8 1⁄2 in. (57.8 x 61.6 x 21.6 cm.)
Executed in 1946.

Provenance

Estate of the artist
Pace Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1989

Literature

G. Sandberg, "Reflexions diparates sur l’organisation d’un museé d’art d’aujourd’hui," Art d’Aujourd’hui, vol. 2., no. 1, October 1950, p. 7 (illustrated).
Alexander Calder, exh. cat., Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 1950, p. 6 (illustrated).
F. Jotterand, "Alexandre Calder ou la sculpture en mouvement," France Illustration, no. 416, November 1954, p. 70 (illustrated).
G. Carandente, Calder: Mobiles and Stabiles, New York and Toronto, 1968, pp. 31 and 92, pl. 3 (illustrated).
J. J. Sweeney and D. Lelong, Calder, l'artiste et l'oeuvre, Paris, 1971, p. 72 (illustrated).
M. Bruzeau, Calder à Saché, Paris, 1975, pp. 30 and 51, pl. 34, 76-77 and 79 (illustrated).
G. Carandente, Teodelapio: Alexander Calder, Milan, 1996, pp. 68 and 74 (illustrated).
M. Sweeney, "Calder in the Park," Counterpoint, 1996, p. 25 (illustrated).
Calder ou l'équilibre poétique, exh. cat., Paris, Hôtel Dassault, 2005, pp. 10 and 23 (illustrated).
Calder After the War, exh. cat., London, Pace Gallery, 2013, p. 146 (illustrated).
Calder and Abstraction: From Avant-Garde to Iconic, exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013, p. 125 (illustrated).

Exhibited

Kunsthalle Bern, Calder, Léger, Bodmer, Leuppi, May 1947, p. 4, no. 39.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Alexander Calder / Fernand Léger, July-August 1947, pp. 6 and 12, no. 39 (illustrated).
Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Alexander Calder, July-August 1957, no. 13.
Helsinki, Galerie Artek, Alexander Calder: Exposition, January-June 1958, p. 7, no. 25.
Berlin, Akademie der Künste, Alexander Calder, May-July 1967, p. 32, no. 2.
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Fondation Maeght, Calder, April-May 1969, pp. 58 and 147, no. 77 (illustrated).
Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Art, Calder, June-September 1969, p. 39, no. 71.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Calder, October-November 1969, p. 40, no. 53.
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Calder, May-July 1975, pp. 61 and 114, no. 96 (illustrated).
Kunsthaus Zurich, Calder, August-November 1975, pp. 79 and 82, no. 96 (illustrated).
Boston, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Alexander Calder: Mobiles and Gouaches, May-June 1985.
New York, Pace Gallery, Calder: Stabiles, May-June 1989, p. 8 (illustrated).
Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Alexander Calder: Retrospective, October 1995-January 1996, p. 91, no. 79 (illustrated).
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Alexander Calder (1998-1976), March-May 1996, pp. 66-67 and 107 (illustrated).
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Alexander Calder: 1998-1976, July-October 1996, pp. 110 and 218, no. 85 (illustrated).

Further Details

This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A00791.

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Lot Essay

"Whereas the standing mobile's base mediates between the earth and the air, the stabiles remain rooted to the earth, as does man himself. Like the mobiles, they activate the surrounding space and share their quality of animation, which derives from the organic character of the shapes and the lively outlines of the forms (a quality hard to actually define but essential in all the work). But the stabiles are also the reverse of the mobiles—static, with the potential for movement but not moving. The sense of 'potential energy,' of energy barely contained, endows them with a powerful presence."
—M. Glimcher, "Alexander Calder: Toward Monumentalism," exh. cat., New York, PaceWildenstein, Alexander Calder: The 50s, 1995, pp. 16-17

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