Red Humpty 1967

Alexander Calder painted "Red Humpty" in 1967 with gouache on paper. The flat planes of color and bold outlines give the piece an immediate graphic punch, like a poster, but when you look closer, you see the hand in it. The washiness of the yellow background, the way the red has been applied in layers to build a density of color, and the imperfect outlines of the Humpty figure all speak to a process, a way of working with the materiality of paint. There is a lightness of touch here, a sense of improvisation in the way he applied each brush stroke. Look at the figure balancing on the blue ball. The limbs are rendered with a single confident line, as if he’s capturing the essence of movement in a single breath. Like Miró, Calder’s work is about play, about finding a visual language that is both sophisticated and childlike. It's like a conversation between friends, full of energy and wit, but also with an underlying depth of feeling. Art is an ongoing exchange, and Calder’s Red Humpty is an open invitation to join the party.