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Calder: The Conquest of Space: The Later Years: 1940-1976
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 10 reviews on
The second and final volume of this magnificent biography begins during World War II, when Calder--known to all as Sandy--and his wife, Louisa, opened their home to a stream of artists and writers in exile from Europe. In the postwar decades, they divided their time between the United States and France, as Calder made his first monumental public sculptures and received blockbuster commissions that included Expo '67 in Montreal and the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Jed Perl makes clear how Calder's radical sculptural imagination shaped the minimalist and kinetic art movements that emerged in the 1960s. And we see, as well, that through everything--their ever-expanding friendships with artists and writers of all stripes; working to end the war in Vietnam; hosting riotous dance parties at their Connecticut home; seeing the "mobile," Calder's essential artistic invention, find its way into Webster's dictionary--Calder and Louisa remained the risk-taking, singularly bohemian couple they had been since first meeting at the end of the Roaring Twenties. The biography ends with Calder's death in 1976 at the age of seventy-eight--only weeks after an encyclopedic retrospective of his work opened at the Whitney Museum in New York--but leaves us with a new, clearer understanding of his legacy, both as an artist and a man.
Book Details
- Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
- Publish Date: Apr 14th, 2020
- Pages: 688
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 9.30in - 7.20in - 1.90in - 4.20lb
- EAN: 9780451494115
- Categories: • History - Contemporary (1945- )• Individual Artists - General• Artists, Architects, Photographers
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About the Author
More books by Jed Perl
What people are saying
The Calder Foundation is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, preserving, and interpreting the art and archives of Alexander Calder.
“With Tree, Calder carries comedy into the realm of pure abstract art,” writes Jed Perl. Read more: https://t.co/ai9t8rna95 https://t.co/VUGIGfL4Vz
A monthly review edited by @rogerkimball and @jamespanero (exec ed). New subscribers: save nearly 60% on your subscription until August 31.
What is art? Jed Perl—the Alexander Calder biographer, New Republic art critic, and early New Criterion contributor—offers his answer to the perennial question in his new book. https://t.co/2XaQF4BoRV
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
"It takes a big-hearted, ambitious biographer to take on the life of a big-hearted, ambitious artist. Alexander Calder has found a perfect match in Jed Perl."--The Washington Post
"A passionate, erudite, and scrupulously researched reckoning with one of the 20th century's most exciting artists."--The Atlantic
"A well-researched and engaging narrative rich in anecdotes . . . By the end of Mr. Perl's second volume, we are left in no doubt as to the depth and durability of Calder's career."--The Wall Street Journal
"Perl's narrative makes Calder come alive . . . Unlike the other major artists of the 20th century, Calder has never had a comprehensive biography that set his life and work in context. Thanks to Jed Perl's magisterial work, now he does."--The Christian Science Monitor
"The monumental conclusion to a two-part biography of Alexander Calder . . . In this masterfully researched work, Perl has constructed an impressive monument that should raise the standards for future art biographies . . . Erudite and accessible . . . Exquisite . . . A towering achievement."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Perl completes his magisterial biography of sculptor Alexander Calder with this lavishly illustrated volume . . . Calder admirers will delight in this exhaustively researched and illuminating retrospective."--Publishers Weekly (starred)
"An erudite, wide-ranging biography gives us the fun-loving, sophisticated man in full."--David D'Arcy, The Art Newspaper
"A gargantuan effort . . . Super-fans will learn everything they've ever wanted to know, and probably more, about this influential artist."--New Criterion
What people are saying
The Calder Foundation is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, preserving, and interpreting the art and archives of Alexander Calder.
“With Tree, Calder carries comedy into the realm of pure abstract art,” writes Jed Perl. Read more: https://t.co/ai9t8rna95 https://t.co/VUGIGfL4Vz
A monthly review edited by @rogerkimball and @jamespanero (exec ed). New subscribers: save nearly 60% on your subscription until August 31.
What is art? Jed Perl—the Alexander Calder biographer, New Republic art critic, and early New Criterion contributor—offers his answer to the perennial question in his new book. https://t.co/2XaQF4BoRV