UNTITLED (BABOON) 1925

This is Alexander Calder's 'Untitled (Baboon)'. Calder was a master of line, that's for sure. I'm imagining the scene. Just Calder, a brush, and ink on paper. Like a Zen exercise. He’s trying to distill the essence of this baboon into a few confident gestures. The ink is thick and juicy in places, pooling where the brush lingered a little longer. Then he cuts around the figure, freeing it from its rectangular prison. It reminds me of Matisse's cut-outs but with that playful, improvisational spirit that was uniquely Calder’s. He did so much wire sculpture, those circus figures, and this has that same lightness and wit. You can feel the artist's hand, the quick flicks of the wrist, as he captures the baboon's loping, ground skimming walk. It’s a conversation between the artist, the baboon, and the simple joy of mark-making. Like passing notes to each other across time.