Red Humpty 1967

Alexander Calder made this gouache, “Red Humpty,” in 1967. There’s a loose and playful quality to the whole thing, an immediacy in the colour washes and bold black lines that capture figures in motion. I imagine Calder must have been thinking about circuses, or maybe a playful take on figuration, something fun and a little bit absurd. There’s this red blob-like character, who I guess is Humpty, with spindly legs and arms thrown up in the air, almost like he’s dancing, or maybe about to fall. The yellow feels warm, and the paint is thin and watery in places. It’s almost as if the picture is a stage for his wire sculptures. Calder’s got a line there that zips along and makes a sort of narrative; you can almost see it wiggling like a piece of wire, connecting and animating everything on the surface of the painting. It’s the kind of thing you might see echoed in the work of artists like Joan Miró. Artists like Calder had this amazing knack for making forms seem to float and tumble in space, inspiring younger artists to embrace spontaneity and a sense of humour in their work.