Népal 1973

Alexander Calder made 'Nepal' sometime during his later years, and it's a treat of gouache on paper. There’s something so straightforward, almost joyful, about the way Calder approaches color here. It’s like, "I'm going to put the red next to the yellow, and we're all gonna be okay". The paint is laid down flatly and directly, with no visible underpainting or preparatory marks. This straightforwardness feels very much in line with his overall aesthetic of making things, of just doing it. Look at the confident outline of each mountain. It’s all about the surface, the here and now. The materiality shouts but it's also incredibly playful. The mountains, with their graphic edges, stack up like a deck of cards. I’m reminded of Joan Miró, especially in the way Calder reduces a landscape to its most essential forms. Like Miró, Calder wasn't afraid to embrace simplicity.