Gagosian Gallery in New York is currently hosting an exhibition of Alexander Calder’s gouache paintings on paper. Best known for his kinetic sculptures or “mobiles,” Calder created lesser-known gouache paintings throughout his life.
Calder created his first series of paintings in gouache during a year-long stay in Aix-en-Provence, France, in 1953. These spur-of-the-moment paintings were more immediate than Calder’s large-sale sculptures, which he was producing at the same time. While Calder’s paintings and sculptures both explore form, space, and balance, his gouaches are anchored in the natural world, while his sculptures tend to be more abstract. Calder also wandered outside of his restricted palette of black, white, and other primary colors in his gouaches, often experimenting with vivid ochres, yellows, and vermillion
