Oniony 1966

Alexander Calder created this playful ink on paper drawing titled Oniony in 1966. The artwork features a series of vegetable-like forms. A dark shape evokes the bulb of an onion, its layers suggested by the contrasting colors in the middle, from which sprout whimsical tendrils. The shapes appear free-floating against a neutral background. The onion, a humble yet potent symbol, has ancient roots. In Egyptian culture, the onion was associated with eternal life because of its layered structure. One can see a similar form re-emerging in Surrealist art of the 20th century, in which biomorphic shapes suggest hidden layers of the subconscious mind. The onion shape, like a seed, carries the weight of history within it. It is a reminder that even in abstraction, forms resonate with the collective memory of our shared human experience.