Dream Figments 1964

Alexander Calder made this dreamy gouache in 1964, and it's a great example of how painting can be so immediate. Look at the bold, flat shapes—circles, mostly, in red, yellow, and black—and the inky, fluid washes that seem to float around them. I can imagine Calder, known for his playful mobiles, approaching this painting with the same sense of improvisation. Maybe he was thinking about balance and movement, trying to capture a sense of lightness on a flat surface. The way the colors bleed into each other, especially in the cloudy areas, gives the whole thing a kind of ephemeral quality. There's a red, white, and blue target-like form. I always feel like that one mark is where Calder got started, almost like a dare. Calder's work is all about making art that feels alive and spontaneous. And even though this painting is static, it still manages to capture that energy. Like his mobiles, it invites us to look at the world in a new way.