The Exhibition - Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection

Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection

NOV 8 2023 – AUG 4 2024
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

American artist Alexander Calder (1898–1976) is celebrated for revolutionizing sculpture with his renowned mobiles and stabiles, which range from the miniature to the monumental. This exhibition traces Calder’s career, highlighting his most important themes, styles, and materials from the 1920s through the 1970s. Calder’s dynamic abstract mobiles mingle with an array of his stationary stabiles of various scales, including notable works such as Gamma (1947), Bougainvillier (1947), and Toile d’araignée (1965). In Motion spans several of SAM’s galleries, including its double-height gallery, a unique space in the museum designed for large-scale works that features several overlooks from the floor above. The exhibition demonstrates Calder’s unique vision, one that stands apart in the history of modern art and has left a profound legacy on American art and culture.

In spring 2023, SAM announced the generosity of patrons Jon and Kim Shirley in gifting the Shirley Family Calder Collection to the museum. The collection—one of the most important private holdings of Calder’s art—is the result of 35 years of thoughtful collecting. In Motion reflects the depth and breadth of this collection in a non-chronological narrative that covers Calder’s career throughout the decades featuring many significant examples from his production: mobiles, stabiles, a constellation, paintings, illustrations, and prints.

This inaugural exhibition also sets in motion a new era at SAM, introducing ongoing exhibitions and programs centered around Calder and his legacy taking place in downtown Seattle, the Olympic Sculpture Park, and through local and national partnerships. These efforts are supported by a generous endowment and annual financial commitments from Jon and Kim Shirley.

Promotional Partner

*Bougainvillier*, 1947, Alexander Calder, 1898-1976, sheet metal, wire, rod, lead, and paint, 78 x 82 x 54 in., Promised gift of Jon and Mary Shirley, New York, photo: Nicholas Shirley, Brightwood Photos.

Putting SAM on the Map

The gift of the Shirley Family Calder Collection transforms the museum’s collection of modern and contemporary art once again, building on gifts from the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection and the Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis Collection. This gift also makes SAM the Pacific Northwest hub for Calder exploration, joining other institutions around the world with significant Calder collections. Visit the Calder Foundation’s interactive map to explore key locations of Calder artworks across the globe.

Smartphone Tour

Enhance your visit to the exhibition by listening to the audio guide available via smartphone featuring an introduction by Jon Shirley and object spotlights by Alexander S. C. Rower, Alexander Calder’s grandson and the President of the Calder Foundation; and Kennedy Yanko, a painter-sculptor based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, who works in paint skin and metal to explore the limits of material gesture.

Take a Tour

SAM Soundtracks

Drop the needle on this playlist drawn from the personal vinyl collection of Alexander Calder, who loved everything rhythmic, percussive, distinctive, and moving. From jazz and swing to samba and avant-garde, these tracks capture the inventive mind of Calder and the modern age he helped define.

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Exhibition Catalogue

A fully illustrated 128-page catalogue published by Seattle Art Museum is available for purchase at SAM Shop ($45). Also titled Calder: In Motion, The Shirley Family Collection (ISBN: 978-0-932216-63-2), the clothbound hardcover catalogue features 102 images and contributions from Jon Shirley, collector; Alexander S. C. Rower, Alexander Calder’s grandson and the President of the Calder Foundation; Elizabeth Hutton Turner, University Professor in the Department of Art, University of Virginia; and José Carlos Diaz, Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art, Seattle Art Museum.

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Events & Tours

Future Exhibitions

Exhibitions centered around Calder will debut every year: Following Calder: In Motion, celebrating the gift of over 45 works, the 2023–24 exhibition will feature internationally renowned contemporary artists who have been profoundly influenced by Calder. Later exhibitions will undertake in-depth reexaminations of specific historical periods in the artist’s career.