Mobile Forms 1973

This painting, made by Alexander Calder in 1933, feels like it was built out of a series of snap decisions. The colors are bold and flat, a simple primary palette of red, yellow, and black that hums with energy. Look closely, and you’ll see that the paint has a certain thickness, particularly in the red area that pushes against the black spirals. This section is not just red; it's a field of painted gestures, a physical record of Calder’s movement, of his hand enacting the painting. The spirals themselves are like little vortexes, each line a turn, drawing you into the center and then releasing you back out again. See that almost accidental drip between the two? It is a little reminder that making art is about embracing the unexpected. It calls to mind Joan Miro, who also worked with biomorphic forms and a playful sense of composition. Both artists invite us to see the world as a playground of shapes and colors, where nothing is fixed and everything is in motion.