Alexander Calder - Editions & Works on Paper New York Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | Phillips
  • 'The Círculo de piedra adventure was born thanks to the friendship with Carlos Franqui, who was introduced to me by Wilfredo Lam. I was in Cuba, in 1967, in the middle of the cold war, I remember that there were cannons under my hotel. All of Carlos’s friends, including almost all the artists who would later create the Circulo de piedra three years later, were in Havana in ’67 for the Salon de Mayo congress. I remember [Asger] Jorn, [Wilfredo] Lam, César [Baldaccini], [Antoni] Tapies, my wife Rita Gallè, [Alexander] Calder, [Valerio] Adami, the critic Guido Ballo. On that occasion I met Fidel Castro, to whom I gave a copy of my edition made with Lam Apostroph Apocalypse. Castro subsequently organized a graphic exhibition at the Casa de las Américas…

     

    What interests me remains of the Círculo de Piedra is the common spirit of familiarity with Carlos Franqui, mine, and of all the artists, in the years of exile from Cuba. The folder is born without a precise commercial purpose and neither is there a a union between artists and a movement… It was also born to support Carlos economically and that is why I left him a part of the edition. The portfolio is a project that–as you can imagine–has also cost a lot for the artists involved, but the enthusiasm for our work has led us to bear the costs of the edition and each of the 15 artists was left with a copy of the work, as a reminder of the common project. Mirò was printed by Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Jorn by Bramsen in Paris, Calder I printed it, because he was in Milan for the exhibition at Studio Marconi.' —Giorgio Upiglio

    • Artist Biography

      Alexander Calder

      American • 1898 - 1976

      Alexander Calder worked as an abstract sculptor and has been commonly referred to as the creator of the mobile. He employed industrious materials of wire and metal and transformed them into delicate geometric shapes that respond to the wind or float in air. Born into a family of sculptors, Calder created art from childhood and moved to Paris in 1926, where he became a pioneer of the international avant-garde. In addition to his mobiles, Calder produced an array of public constructions worldwide as well as drawings and paintings that feature the same brand of abstraction. Calder was born in Lawnton, Pennsylvania.

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11

El Círculo de Piedra (The Stone Circle): one plate

1971
Lithograph in colors, on wove Filicarta de Brugherio paper, with full margins.
I. 19 x 13 3/4 in. (48.3 x 34.9 cm)
S. 22 1/2 x 17 3/4 in. (57.2 x 45.1 cm)

Signed and numbered 90/125 in pencil (there was also an edition of 25 in Roman numerals), published by Grafica Uno, Milan, unframed.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$800 - 1,200 

Sold for $1,016

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Editions & Works on Paper

New York Auction 21 June 2023