Alexander Calder

ALEXANDER CALDER (United States, 1898–1976).
“Le deux lunes.” 1974.
Lithograph on Arches paper, print no. 30/75.
Signed and numbered in pencil.
Measurements: 74.5 x 110 cm; 75.5 x 111 cm (frame).

Alexander Calder’s “Le deux lunes” belongs to the fully mature phase of his graphic work, a fundamental chapter in his career during which the artist brought to paper the same inventive freedom, formal lightness, and sense of movement that defined his celebrated mobiles and sculptures. Through lithography, Calder found an ideal medium for preserving the spontaneity of his gesture and the purity of his visual vocabulary, collaborating with renowned publishers and specialized workshops, including the prestigious Parisian firm Maeght Éditeur.
The composition distills the artist’s visual universe through biomorphic forms and astral references that establish a dynamic dialogue between two opposing profiles, evoking cosmic presences in a state of balance and tension. The line, reduced to its essence, is articulated through fluid black contours that delineate flat chromatic fields, enhancing the luminosity of his characteristic palette—reds, blues, and yellows alongside black and white. The influence of Surrealism and his affinity with Joan Miró are revealed in the poetic, playful, and organic nature of these forms.
Within his body of graphic work, this lithograph stands out for the artist’s ability to transform the two-dimensional surface into a vibrant space of rhythm and movement. It is a work that synthesizes Calder’s artistic exploration and confirms the importance of his graphic output as an essential extension of one of the most distinctive languages of 20th-century art.

Linked to the European avant-garde movements and the Parisian art scene of the interwar period, he revolutionized the discipline by introducing movement, suspension, and dynamic balance into his famous mobiles, transforming space into an active element of creation.
His artistic universe, defined by formal synthesis, visual poetry, and an extraordinary economy of means, encompassed monumental sculpture, graphic works, drawing, and jewelry, developing a language of his own that bridged geometric abstraction, surrealism, and biomorphic sensibility. Considered a key pioneer of kinetic art, Calder radically altered the traditional perception of the artwork, conceiving it as a living, ever-changing experience.
His work is included in the collections of major international museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Tate Modern, and the Reina Sofía Museum, as well as in prominent private and institutional collections around the world. His legacy represents one of the most original, poetic, and decisive contributions to contemporary sculpture.