Bouées 1973

Alexander Calder made this painting called Bouées with gouache, and ink on paper. It feels buoyant, kind of floaty! I see these joyful primary colors, like a kid's toy box spilled onto the water. There's a red circle that feels like it's bobbing right up to meet me, and those blue stripes, so simple but effective, give the sense of movement. Imagine Calder, brush in hand, deciding just how much wobble to give each shape, how to make them feel weightless but present. I wonder if he was thinking about how colors play with each other, red against blue, yellow, and white – a celebration of simple pleasures. I bet he liked Miro, or Klee. What do you think? It’s like Calder’s sculptures, but in two dimensions – playful, optimistic, and always in motion. You could say, artists are always playing off each other, making art, and building on each other’s ideas.