Alexander Calder American, 1898-1976 Cheval Rouge (Red Horse), 1974 painted sheet metal Courtesy Calder Foundation, New York © 2002 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

During the last two decades of his life Alexander Calder devoted his greatest efforts to large-scale mobiles and stabiles, many of which have become popular public landmarks in cities around the world. Unlike his earlier works, these huge objects required a collaborative effort. To fabricate Cheval Rouge the artist worked with skilled technicians and metalworkers at the Biémont Foundry in Tours, France.

Calder's outdoor stabiles such as Cheval Rouge exhibit a universally appealing grace and, though steadfastly abstract, evoke a friendly resonance with natural forms. Here the sleek, tapering legs and tensile up-thrust "neck" recall the muscularity and power of a thoroughbred. This stabile reflects Calder's assertion: "I want to make things that are fun to look at, that have no propaganda value whatsoever."
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