“At that time (last spring) [U. S., 1928] I did not consider this medium to be of any signal importance in the world of art; merely a very amusing stunt cleverly executed.... however, wishing to return to Paris, I felt it would be quite justifiable to have an exhibition here, where "clever stunts" are highly appreciated, so I came over 3 months ago and set to work, carving wood and twisting wire. These new studies in wire, however, did not remain the simple modest little things I had done in New York. They are still simple, more simple than before; and therein lie the great possibilities which I have only recently come to feel for the wire medium.”

— Alexander Calder

1920s, Statement on Wire Sculpture' (1929)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "At that time (last spring) [U. S., 1928] I did not consider this medium to be of any signal importance in the world of …" by Alexander Calder?

Alexander Calder 41

American artist 1898–1976

Related quotes

“When I first saw Calder's art very long ago [c. 1928 in Paris, Miro saw Calder performing his mechanical 'Circus' for the Paris' art scene, all puppets made from metal wire and wood] I thought it was good, but not art.”

Joan Miró (1893–1983) Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist

1961 and later
Source: 'New York Times', 3 April 1969

“I started [in Paris, 1920's, making toys] right away, using wire as my main material as well as working with others like string, leather, fabric and wood. Wood combined with wire (with which I could make the heads, tails and feet of animals as well as articulating parts) was almost always my medium of choice. One friend of mine suggested that I should make bodies entirely of wire, and that is how I started to make what I called 'Wire Sculpture.”

Alexander Calder (1898–1976) American artist

In Montparnasse, I became known as the 'King of Wire'.

Quote of Alexander Calder (1952), looking back, from Permanence Du Cirque, in 'Revue Neuf', Calder Foundation, 1952; as quoted in Calder and Mondrian: An Unlikely Kinship, senior-thesis by Eva Yonas http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.517.581&rep=rep1&type=pdf, Ohio State University August 2006, Department of Art History, p.19 – note 26

Calder first began using wire extensively in 1926, creating mechanical toys that would be the precursors to the Paris' 'Cirque Calder'
1950s - 1960s

“Eight days ago I left Paris and here I am at Honfleur, the place to which I return, as always, with new pleasure. It is a little seaport where there are ten or twenty ships of all nations; not counting the fishing vessels of the same nations. I tell you that this is very interesting for my studies.”

Johan Jongkind (1819–1891) Dutch painter and printmaker regarded as a forerunner of Impressionism

In a letter, August 1865, describing his visit to Honfleur; as quoted by Moreau-Nélaton, in Jongkind, raconté par lui-même, 1918, p 88
Jongkind visited Honfleur for the third time in his life, in the Summer of 1865 - staying at Isabey's farm at Sainte Adresse

“This is an ever-changing world. Seven years ago, who would have thought that the iPhone would change the world? A year ago, who would have thought that I would become the mayor of Taipei? Just a month ago, who would have thought that I would be standing here in front of you today? However, one thing remains unchanged, and that is the long-lasting friendship that Taipei and Shanghai have established.”

Ko Wen-je (1959) Taiwanese politician and physician

Ko Wen-je (2015) cited in " Two sides of Strait are one family: Ko http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/08/19/2003625685" on The Taipei Times, 19 August 2015.

“I have never felt like a second-class citizen. I consider myself a U. S. citizen. I appreciate and treasure my U. S. citizenship. I would never renounce or consider losing that citizenship. I want my children and their children to always have it.”

Sila María Calderón (1942) Puerto Rican mayor

Interview with Caribbean Business (December 3, 1998)

“One is too taken up with all that one sees and hears in Paris, however strong one is, and what I do here will at least have the merit of being unlike anyone else, at least I believe so, because it will simply be the expression of what I, and only I have felt. The further I get, the more I regret how little I know, that's what hinders me the most... I don't think I will spend much time in Paris now, a month at the very most, each year.”

Claude Monet (1840–1926) French impressionist painter

in a letter to Frédéric Bazille; as quoted in: K.E. Sullivan. Monet: Discovering Art, Brockhampton press, London (2004), p. 31.
1850 - 1870

“In the deserts, however arid, I have never felt homesick for green fields and woods in spring, but now that I was in England I longed with an ache that was almost physical to be back in Arabia.”

Wilfred Thesiger book Arabian Sands

Source: Arabian Sands (1959), p. 187.

“I realized the wood was better before I cut it, than after. I did not improve it in any way [by carving it].”

Carl Andre (1935) American artist

As quoted in Abstract Art, Anna Moszynska, Thames and Hudson 1990, p. 206
quote after 1959, in Andre's early artistic career, when he made his sculpture 'Last Ladder'

“However, I gradually start to appreciate the Japanese print art [in wood prints] as a whole less than a small year ago. We can discuss it later, sometimes. For the time being I can say that the external elegance and skills are often not supported by a deep inner empathy with the depicted things.”

Jan Mankes (1889–1920) Dutch painter

translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek

(original Dutch: citaat van Jan Mankes, in het Nederlands:) Wel ga ik langzamerhand de Japansche prentkunst [in houtdrukken] als geheel een trapje lager stellen dan een klein jaar geleden. Daar kunnen we het later nog wel eens over hebben. Voorloopig kan ik zeggen dat de uiterlijke zwier en knapheid veelal niet gesteund wordt door een diep innerlijk meeleven met de afgebeelde dingen.

In a letter to Pauwels, 13 June 1914; as cited in Jan Mankes – in woord en beeld, ed. Sjoerd van Faassen; Museum Bèlvédère, Heerenveen, 2015 ISBN 1877-0983, n. 22, p. 29
1909 - 1914

“One can't get to know people well here; the social life is amusing but superficial. However, remember that I am just a savage, from the jungles (of New Guinea where he had sailed and worked as a government clerk)! Perhaps when I am tamed, I will jump through the social hoops, too.”

Errol Flynn (1909–1959) Australian actor

Spoken to M.G. Hart, writer, after his success as "Captain Blood," about being a newcomer to Hollywood, for magazine article Silver Screen, January 1936

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Alexander Calder 41

Related quotes

Related topics