Red Curly Tail

1970
Alexander Calder, 1898-1976

Sheet metal, rod, bolts, and paint, 192 x 275 x 144 in., Promised gift of Jon and Mary Shirley, photo: Nicholas Shirley, Brightwood Photos.

In 1933, Calder and his wife, Louisa, left Paris and settled in Roxbury, Connecticut. The artist converted the old icehouse into a studio, and the property was large enough to allow Calder to work on an elevated scale. In the summer of 1934, Calder created his first outdoor works, which ranged in height from five to nine feet. Working larger proved to be expensive and experimental, so the artist began making scaled models or maquettes from which to proportionally enlarge his sculpture. The last two decades of Calder’s life were very successful, and he received multiple high-profile commissions for outdoor work. Red Curly Tail, once displayed outdoors, includes kinetic parts and an abstract base, giving it a sense of wonder.

During this period, other significant works included El Sol Rojo for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and The Eagle (1971), located at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle.