Topography 1961

Alexander Calder made this gouache painting, Topography, in 1961, using bold, flat shapes and strong black lines that look like they have been laid down with a brush full of ink. It's a little like someone has taken a map and flattened it, then colored it with big, simple areas of paint. Looking closely, I see the surface is built up with layers of color. It's easy to imagine the way that he constructed the piece bit by bit, adding one shape to the next to create a composition, just like building up a painting, little by little. I'm really drawn to the orange and yellow shapes, how they come together at the bottom. The orange sort of bleeds and blends into the paper around it. It gives the painting a real feeling of depth. Calder was always interested in movement, so I see a connection between these shapes and the way he constructed his mobiles. You can almost feel the different parts of the painting moving, hovering, and dancing. In that way, it reminds me a little of Joan Miro. Like Miro, Calder takes the idea of abstraction and turns it into something playful and alive.