Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Alexander Calder
"Derriere Le Miroir" Catalog with Five Lithographs

1973

About the Item

"Derriere Le Miroir" is a portfolio of lithographs by Alexander Calder. The artist signed the portfolio on the last page. This is edition number 146/150 of the deluxe edition, with two double-page lithographs and three single-page lithographs inside. The original lithographs are in Calder's signature biomorphic abstract style in the primary colors. Derrière le Miroir is a French art magazine created in 1946 and published by the Maeght Gallery until 1982. 14 3/4" x 11" per page approximately American sculptor and painter, born at Lawnton, a suburb of Philadelphia. His grandfather, Alexander Milne Calder, and his father, Alexander Stirling Calder. were sculptors and his mother was a painter. His father had charge of the sculptural work for the Los Angeles World Exhibition in 1912. Alexander Calder, however, studied mechanical engineering from 1915 to 1919 and began to take an interest in landscape painting only in 1922 after having tried his hand at a variety of jobs. In 1923 he enrolled at the School of the Art Students' League. New York, where George LUKS and John SLOAN were among the teachers. Calder and his fellow students made a game of rapidly sketching people in the streets and the underground and Calder was noted for his skill in conveying a sense of movement by a single unbroken line. He also took an interest in sport and circus events and contributed drawings to the satirical National Police Gazette. From these activities it was but a step to his wire sculptures, the first of which -- a sun-dial in the form of a cock -- was done in 1925. In 1927 he made moving toys for the Gould Manufacturing Company and small figures of animals and clowns with which he gave circus performances in his studio. His first exhibition of paintings was in the Artists' Gal.. New York, in 1926; his first Paris one-man show was in the Gal. Billiet in 1929 and the Foreword to the catalogue was written by PASCIN. whom he had met the previous year. His wire figures were exhibited by Carl Zigrosser at the Weyhe Gal. and Bookshop, New York, in 1928 and at the Neumann and Nierendorf Gal., Berlin, in 1929, when they were made the subject of a short film by Dr. Hans Curlis. During the 1930s Calder became known both in Paris and in America for his wire sculpture and portraits, his abstract constructions and his drawings. In 1931 he joined the ABSTRACTION-CREATION association and in the same year produced his first non-figurative moving construction. The construetions which were moved by hand or by motor power were baptized 'mobiles' in 1932 by Marcel DUCHAMP and ARP suggested 'stabiles' for the non-moving constructions in the same year. It was in 1934 that Calder began to make the unpowered mobiles for which he is most widely known. Constructed usually from pieces of shaped and painted tin suspended on thin wires or cords, these responded by their own weight to the faintest air currents and were designed to take advantage of effects of changing light created by the movements. Thev were described by Calder as 'four-dimensional drawings'. and in a letter to Duchamp written in 1932 he spoke of his desire to make 'moving Itlondrians'. Calder was in fact greatly impressed by a visit to Mondrian in 1930 and no doubt envisaged himself as bringing movement to Mondrian-type geometrical abstracts. Yet the personality and outlook of the two men were very different. Calder`s pawky delight in the comic and fantastic, which obtrudes even in his large works, was at the opposite pole from the Messianic seriousness of Mondrian. Calder continued to do both mobiles and stabiles until the 1970s, sometimes combining the two into one structure. Some of these works were of very large dimensions: Teodelapio (1962), a stabile for the city of Spoleto, was 18 m high and 14 m long; Man, done for the Montreal World Exhibition of 1967, was 23 m high; Red Sun (1967) for the Olympic Stadium, Mexico, was 24 m high and the motorized hanging mobile Red. Black and Blue (1967) at Dallas airport was 14 m wide. His interest in animal figures and the circus also continued into the 1970s and in 1971 he was making 'Animobiles' reminiscent of animals. Although he had done gouaches since the late 1920s, he began to take a more serious interest in them and to exhibit them from 1952.
  • Creator:
    Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1973
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.75 in (37.47 cm)Width: 11 in (27.94 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 933d1stDibs: LU60533787251

More From This Seller

View All
20th century colorful abstract lithograph leaves signed
By Andre Beaudin
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Pour Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler - Falling Leaves" is an original lithograph, printed in 1964 by Andre Beaudin. It includes vertical frames of tan, orange, yellow, green, and gray. It i...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Jusqu'a L'Abstraction' color lithograph poster Wassily Kandinsky
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Jusqu'a L'Abstraction" is a lithograph poster by Wassily Kandinsky. This poster depicts abstract forms in purple, pink, blue, and black and was created for the Maeght gallery in Par...
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Fig Trees-Antibes, " Color Lithograph signed by Paul Guiramand
By Paul Guiramand
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Fig Trees-Antibes" is a signed (lower right) color lithograph by Paul Guiramand. It depicts leaves in light green covering most of the surface as well as two...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Pour Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Figure in Landscape
By Yves Rouvre
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Pour Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Figure in Landscape" is an original lithograph by Yves Rouvre. The artist signed the piece lower right. It features an abstracted figure in fields of co...
Category

1960s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

'Winter Silhouettes, ' offset lithograph by Schomer Lichtner
By Schomer Lichtner
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'Winter Silhouettes,' a small and delicate print, is an original offset lithograph by the Milwaukee artist Schomer Lichtner. The composition displays registers of foliage, emerging from the white of the paper as though emerging from the snow-covered ground. The artwork is thus plays with the materials of printmaking; the paper is both the support and the primary indication of the season. The subtle texture of the tooth of the paper also adds life to the image, giving the snow a wind-swept, creature trodden surface. The free forms of the grasses and leaves resemble the lyrical mid-century works of the French artist Henri Matisse, which combined with these material concerns demonstrate Lichter's modern sensibilities. 3.75 x 2.75 inches, image 5.5 x 4.5 inches, paper 10 x 8 inches frame Signed and dated in the stone, lower right Framed to conservation standards in a shadow-box style mounting, using 100 percent rag matting, museum glass, and housed in a cherry wood moulding Overall excellent condition; some toning to edges of paper; some minor abrasions to frame Milwaukee artist Schomer Lichtner was well known for his whimsical cows and ballerinas and abstract imagery. He and his late wife Ruth Grotenrath, both well-known Wisconsin artists, began their prolific careers as muralists for WPA projects, primarily post offices. Lichtner also painted murals for industry and private clients. Schomer was a printmaker and produced block prints, lithographs, and serigraph prints. His casein (paint made from dairy products) and acrylic paintings are of the rural Wisconsin landscape and farm animals. He became interested in cows when he and Ruth spent summers near Holy Hill in Washington County. According to David Gordon, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Schomer Lichtner had a tremendous joie de vivre and expressed it in his art. Schomer Lichtner was nationally known for his whimsical paintings and sculptures of black- and white-patterned Holstein cows and elegant ballerina dancers. Lichtner also painted all sorts of combinations of beautiful women, flowers and country landscapes. James Auer, former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art critic, said that his art eventually "exploded into expressionistic design elements with bold, flat areas of color and high energy that anticipated Pop Art." Auer went on to describe Lichtner’s work as full of "wit, vigor and virtuosity." As early as 1930, Lichtner’s work was shown at the prestigious Carnegie International Exhibition in New York and at museums throughout the Midwest. As a student, he was a protégé of another icon of 20th century American art, Gustave Moeller. Lichtner and his wife, Ruth Grotenrath (1912-1988), are celebrated as Milwaukee’s first couple of painting and are regarded as major Wisconsin artists. Lichtner’s impressive production, perseverance, longevity, and positive approach to his life and art made him and his work distinctive and much loved by his many admirers. His work is currently represented in collections at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the West Bend Museum, and in the collections of many individuals. Books on the lives and art work of both Lichtner and Grotenrath are in progress and it is anticipated that they will be published next year. Schomer Lichtner passed away on May 9, 2006 at the age of 101. He continued to amaze and create with his whimsical paintings of ballerinas...
Category

1960s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Black and White, Lithograph

Cover from 'Miró Lithographs IV, Maeght Publisher' original print by Joan Miró
By Joan Miró
Located in Milwaukee, WI
This original lithograph is one of six produced by Joan Miró especially for the fourth volume of the catalogue of his lithographs. These are excellent examples of his later work and ...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

You May Also Like

Maravillas con Variaciones Acrosticas en el Jardin de Miro (Number 3)
By Joan Miró
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Joan Miro, Spanish (1893 - 1983) Title: Maravillas con Variaciones Acrosticas en el Jardin de Miro (Number 3) Year: 1975 Medium: Lithograph, signed in the plate Edition: 1500...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Maravillas con Variaciones Acrosticas en el jardin de Miro (Number 12)
By Joan Miró
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Joan Miro, Spanish (1893 - 1983) Title: Maravillas con Variaciones Acrosticas en el jardin de Miro (Number 12) Year: 1975 Medium: Lithograph, signed in the plate Edition: 150...
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Alexander Calder lithographic cover 1971 (Calder Derrière le miroir)
By Alexander Calder
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Alexander Calder Lithographic cover c. 1971 from Derrière le miroir: Lithographic cover in colors; 11 x 15 inches. Very good overall vintage condition. Unsigned from an edition of u...
Category

1970s Modern Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

"Henry S. Miller" Lithograph in Ink on Paper, #3 of 8
Located in Soquel, CA
"Henry S. Miller" Lithograph in Ink on Paper, #3 of 8 Surrealist lithograph by Stephen Tracy White (American, 1947-2005). A figure in the lower right corner is partially enclosed by a red rectangle. Biomorphic shapes are flowing out of the rectangle, stretching across the composition. The shapes are rendered with intricate linework and soft green shading. Numbered, titled, signed, and dated along the bottom: 3/8 Henry S. Miller S. Tracy White 1969/April Tag on verso from Lee Nordness Galleries, New York Presented in a silver aluminum frame. Shipped without glass. Frame size: 26.5"H x 36.25"W Image size: 23.5"H x 34.25"W Stephen Tracy White (American, 1947-2005) was born in Bronwood, Georgia. They studied at the University of New Mexico, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art in 1969. They worked at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, printing pieces by William Crutchfield...
Category

1960s American Modern Portrait Prints

Materials

Paper, Ink, Lithograph

Chevaux et Cavaliers IV
By Marino Marini
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color lithograph with strong colors. Signed and numbered 38/50 in pencil by Marini. Printed by Mourlot, Paris. Published by XXe Siècle, Paris.
Category

1970s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Color, Lithograph

Birth of Venus from 'Ronsard. Florilège des Amours' Unframed
By Henri Matisse
Located in London, GB
Birth of Venus. Lithograph, 1948, from 'Ronsard. Florilège des Amours'., total edition of 320 copies. Dimensions: sheet 25 x 28 cm. Reference: Duthuit Ouvrages illustres no. 25 p 21...
Category

1940s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All