Curly Star and Moon 1974

Alexander Calder made this gouache painting called "Curly Star and Moon." The forms are pretty simple, just bold shapes in red, black, and a little yellow. It feels immediate, like Calder was just playing around with color and shape, letting his imagination lead the way. You can really see the physicality of the paint. It's thin and watery in some spots, thick and opaque in others. He’s not trying to hide his process; you can see the brushstrokes moving across the page. Look at how the black paint of the moon overlaps with the tan-colored paper, there’s a layering here, not an erasing. It's like a conversation between the black and the ground. Calder’s work always makes me think of Joan Miró, especially in its playful, abstract forms and use of vibrant colors. But Calder brings a sense of movement and dynamism to his work, even in a still painting like this, which maybe comes from his work as a sculptor. What does it mean to make forms in motion but capture them on a page? Food for thought!