Red Lily Pads (Nénuphars rouges) 1956

Alexander Calder's "Red Lily Pads" hangs here at the Guggenheim, a playful dance of metal and color. It embodies a spirit of whimsical engineering. Imagine Calder, with pliers in hand, coaxing these red discs into a floating ballet. Each shape is perfectly poised. The entire piece shifts, turning the air itself into a canvas. You can tell he wants to push the boundaries of sculpture by making it move! Thinking about this work makes me think about Joan Miró's paintings – that same joyful use of simplified forms and primary colors. There’s a link between their works that transcends time and space; it’s like they’re in conversation, bouncing ideas off each other across the decades. It's this ongoing dialogue that keeps art alive. Each artist builds on what came before, reinterpreting, subverting, and expanding the possibilities of expression. Calder offers us a slice of that conversation, a reminder that art can be both serious inquiry and pure, unadulterated play.