Arrangements in Orange and Black 1962

Alexander Calder made this gouache on paper, Arrangements in Orange and Black, at some point in his career. Look at how freely Calder moves between the flat planes of orange and the playful black lines. It's like watching a dance, isn’t it? The paint is applied in washes, thin and almost translucent. You can see the paper right through it, giving the piece a sense of lightness, a bit like he’s sketching ideas. The black lines, though, they’re where the action is. Thick and thin, they loop and squiggle and create these little abstract shapes. I’m really drawn to how the lines and the colour interact to create a kind of visual rhythm, you can almost feel the speed and the energy he put into it. It's like he's not just painting, but composing a piece of music. Thinking about other artists, Joan Miró comes to mind, someone else who had this knack for making the abstract feel so alive and full of joy. And, like Miró, Calder reminds us that art doesn't always have to be serious; it can be playful, spontaneous, and a little bit silly too.