Spiral at Sea

Label TextIn this painting, created with a type of opaque watercolor called gouache, a swirling black biomorphic spiral appears in the foreground, superimposed over waves of brilliant orange-red and blue that elicit a sense of movement and energy. The spiral is a recurring form in Calder’s practice, a reference to his ongoing interest in the possibility of painting to manifest motion like that seen in his iconic “mobile” sculptures, so named by Marcel Duchamp for their ability to respond to the surrounding environment, rotating with ambient air currents. Sea and wave imagery appear across more than half a century of Calder’s work, a product of the time the artist spent working as a mechanic on the passenger ship H.F. Alexander in 1922. The ship sailed from New York City to San Francisco, and, throughout the voyage, Calder slept on deck. While off the coast of Guatemala, he witnessed the sun rising in the east and a full moon setting over the western horizon. He described in his autobiography, “on a calm sea, off Guatemala, I saw the beginning of a fiery red sunrise on one side and the moon looking like a silver coin on the other.” Inspired by his experience, Calder decided to become an artist and enrolled in the Arts Students League in New York City in 1923. This juxtaposition of opposites, such as the fiery and the cool-toned colors seen here, became a formal and thematic signature. In 1926, Calder moved to Paris and became part of the dynamic avant-garde scene of the city. He befriended artists including Jean Miró, Piet Mondrian, Fernand Léger, and Marcel Duchamp. His strongest bond was with Miró, with whom he shared a lifelong, mutual admiration. These friendships influenced his shift toward abstraction and a surreal style of painting that includes brightly colored and naturalistic abstract forms meant to evoke strong emotion.
Exhibition History"Alexander Calder: Recent Gouaches - Early Mobiles," Perls Galleries, New York, 20 October - 28 November 1970

DimensionsFrame: 30 3/4 x 44 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (78.1 x 113 x 3.2 cm)
Sheet: 29 1/4 x 43 in. (74.3 x 109.2 cm)

Accession Number 2026.10

Classificationswork on paper

CopyrightARS

InscriptionsCalder 70 (l,r ink)

MarksLES PAPIERS CANSON LAVIS B (u,r blindstamp) MANUFRE CANSON & MONTGOLFIER VIDALON-LES ANNONAY ANCNE MANUFRE CANSON & MONTGOLFIER VIDALON-LES ANNONAY ANCNE MANUFRE CANSON & MONTG (bottom edge impression)

ProvenanceArtist. (Perls Galleries, New York); Lois and Louis Fingerman [purchased from the previous, 1970]; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 2026]