Calder at the Met
Alexander Calder bracelet, circa 1948.
New Yorkers looking for a little culture this weekend might want to consider grabbing this last chance to check out the Calder Jewelry exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which closes March 1. Although Calder is generally known for his mobiles and larger stabiles (including, for New Yorkers, his sculpture “Saurien,” which occupies the corner of 57th Street and Madison Avenue), he was apparently well known during his lifetime for his output of wearable art, a total of approximately 1800 pieces of jewelry in brass, silver, and gold. Jewelry-obsessed as I am, I checked it out a few weeks ago, and it’s well worth a look.
The Met exhibition is small but interesting, particularly if you’re a bit of a jewelry hound like me. As you might expect, the jewelry is sculptural and striking. What you might not expect, though, is how much of it is also entirely wearable (although some of it might pose a hazard to anyone trying to get too close to you). It also has some interesting tidbits about the artist’s life. I was particularly amused to read that although Calder made an engagement ring for his wife Louisa that was part of the exhibition and thought that it would do for a wedding ring, she insisted that he go out and buy her a regular band anyway. A lot of the jewelry involved fairly basic techniques — if you’re artistically inclined you may leave like I did with the urge to pull out the hammer and some wire and channel your inner sculptor.
A couple of pieces I liked:
The Jealous Husband, circa 1940. Perhaps the spikes are defensive?
Speaking of chandeliers... Earrings circa 1942.
