The Fuse 1947

Alexander Calder’s painting, The Fuse, presents us with a world of shapes and symbols set against a dominant, earthy red. I imagine Calder, known for his playful mobiles, approaching this canvas with a similar sense of improvisation. That red! Is it the underpainting or the final statement? Maybe it's both. There’s something so immediate about the marks—the black squiggles, the orderly dashes, the solid circles, all scattered, yet balanced. Look at that spiral—it almost feels like it's unwinding before our eyes. What was Calder thinking when he made that? This painting feels like a cousin to Miró or Klee, artists who also embraced a kind of visual poetry. I can imagine them all in conversation, bouncing ideas off each other, each finding their own way to make the invisible visible. It's a reminder that art is an ongoing dialogue, constantly evolving, always open to new voices and interpretations.