Romulus and Remus 1928

Editor: This is Alexander Calder’s "Romulus and Remus," created in 1928. It’s a sculpture crafted from wire, and it strikes me as both playful and strangely austere. What do you make of this piece? Curator: Calder, even early in his career, was already questioning traditional sculpture. He deliberately references the founding myth of Rome, a powerful state built, according to legend, by abandoned twins raised by a wolf. This is a wire sculpture. It looks fragile but consider the material - it is metal; suggesting the latent power and strength of Rome despite the very humble origins of this culture. Editor: So, it’s not just about the story, but also the medium? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the context of its creation. The 1920s saw a rise in mass media and popular culture. Calder uses the raw and simple language of wire, similar to line drawings and even political cartoons of the time, to subvert traditional, monumental interpretations of historical narratives. Instead, he offered something accessible, witty, and immediate. Who controlled the story then, and who gets to control it now? Is the story true, embellished or made up all together? What does it all mean? Editor: That makes me think about how mythology can be used, or maybe even manipulated, to shape our understanding of the present. I was looking at the simplified forms but hadn't connected it to that kind of accessibility. Curator: Exactly. Calder's "Romulus and Remus" invites us to question not just the narrative itself, but how institutions, including museums, shape our encounter with the past. And even who decides what’s presented as ‘art’ in the first place. Editor: That's really shifted how I see it. It’s more than just a wire sculpture about a famous myth. Curator: Precisely. It’s about power, narrative, and who gets to write the story of civilization, rendered in the most disarming way. A critical lens for viewing the Roman period is not just the history of then, but also for questioning our perspectives here and now.