Alexander Calder: References & Edit History

Exhibition catalogs and monographs that feature a broad view of the artist’s achievements include James Johnson Sweeney, Alexander Calder (1951); Thomas M. Messer, Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition (1964); Jean Lipman, Calder’s Universe (1976, reprinted 1989); Richard Marshall, Alexander Calder: Sculptures of the Nineteen Thirties (1987); Daniel Marchesseau, The Intimate World of Alexander Calder, trans. by Eleanor Levieux and Barbara Shuey (1989; originally published in French); Joan M. Marter, Alexander Calder (1991); Marla Prather and Alexander S.C. Rower, Alexander Calder, 1898–1976 (1998); Joan Simon et al., Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926–1933 (2008); Lynne Warren (ed.), Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy (2010); Alexander S.C. Rower et al., Calder: The Complete Bronzes (2012); and Stephanie Barron and Lisa Gabrielle Mark (eds.), Calder and Abstraction: From Avant-Garde to Iconic (2013).

Exhibition catalogs and books that focus on a particular aspect of Calder’s work include Jean Lipman and Nancy Foote (eds.), Calder’s Circus (1972); Mark Rosenthal, The Surreal Calder (2005); Alexander S.C. Rower and Holton Rower (eds.), Calder Jewelry (2007); Barbara Zabel, Calder’s Portraits: A New Language (2011); Susanne Meyer-Büser et al., Alexander Calder: Avant-Garde in Motion (2013).

Calder’s work recommends itself to being filmed, and a number of historical and contemporary films are available, including Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947), an experimental film directed by Surrealist Hans Richter that explores the unconscious and was based, in part, on Calder’s objects and drawings; Le Cirque de Calder (1961; also called Calder’s Circus), directed by Carlos Vilardebó, shows the artist’s miniature circus in motion. The American Masters production Alexander Calder (1998), directed by Roger M. Sherman, and Calder, Sculptor of Air (2009; originally in French, 2008), directed by François Lévy-Kuentz, are biographical documentaries of the artist’s career.

Glimpses of a more-personal nature are Margaret Calder Hayes, Three Alexander Calders: A Family Memoir (1977); and Jessica Holmes, Simplicity of Means: Calder and the Devised Object (2007). Pedro E. Guerrero, A Photographer’s Journey (2007), provides a photographic record of a visit to Calder’s homes; and Alexander S.C. Rower (ed.), Calder by Matter: Herbert Matter photographs of Alexander Calder and His Work (2014), contains photographs of Calder with his work.