Projet pour un stabile 1969

Alexander Calder made this gouache on paper, Projet pour un stabile, in 1969. It is a study for a ‘stabile’, a type of stationary abstract sculpture he invented and named. The bright colours and playful shapes feel optimistic, reflecting the generally forward-looking mood of American society at this time. Calder had become internationally famous by the late 1960s and his works were seen as emblems of technological progress and American ingenuity. Many of his large-scale sculptures were publicly funded and installed in plazas and squares, where they became landmarks and meeting places. But the mood was starting to shift. The Vietnam War was raging and there were growing protests against social inequality. Seen in this light, the seeming innocence of Calder’s work, which was embraced by the establishment, was increasingly out of step with a younger generation of artists who were more attuned to the social and political upheavals of the period. Understanding the impact of historical and cultural forces on art means looking not just at the work itself, but at contemporary magazines and newspapers, records of public funding, and the words of critics and other artists.