Simplicity of Means: Calder and the Devised Object

Calder, Alexander and Jessica Holmes

ISBN 10: 0974075167 / ISBN 13: 9780974075167

Published by Jonathan O'Hara Gallery, 2008

About this Item

Hardcover without dustjacket as issued, 82 pages; very good condition; light rubbing to covers; no internal marks. Foreign shipping may be extra.

Seller Inventory # SiCaJo50

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Simplicity of Means: Calder and the Devised Object
• Publisher: Jonathan O'Hara Gallery
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0974075167
• ISBN 13: 9780974075167
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Early Modern Art

About this title

Synopsis

Dinner bells, chess sets, ashtrays, candelabra, key rings, door latches, forks, spoons, tie racks, toys and long, duck-like cigarette holders are just some of the hand-made domestic objects that the important and prolific American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) made out of humble, recycled materials for his homes and his loved ones over the course of his long career. This delightful volume features 52 diverse, often anthropomorphic, but always functional objects that represent this limited and rarely seen facet of Calder's oeuvre. It is the first to focus on Calder's purely utilitarian art since 1989. Jessica Holmes writes in her introduction, "Combining a profound comprehension of mechanics with an aesthetic sensibility, Calder produced a household full of practical items that are mundane in name only--ashtray, folding table, toaster--names that belie a fantastic integration of function and form."