Balanced Spiral 1969

Alexander Calder made this gouache on paper called Balanced Spiral in 1969. It’s like he’s juggling shapes and colors, a sort of balancing act that’s both playful and precise. Look at the black spiral. It’s bold, a confident swoop of paint that feels both deliberate and spontaneous. You can almost see Calder’s hand moving as he made it. It has this handmade quality, like he was figuring it out as he went along. The way the paint is applied, kind of thin in places, lets the white of the paper peek through, adding to that sense of lightness and movement. Calder's use of black, white, and red is so direct and striking. The red, grounding the composition, contrasts with the airy white space, allowing the black shapes to float and dance. His work reminds me a little of Joan Miró, with that same sense of joy and freedom in form. It’s a reminder that art doesn't always need to be serious; sometimes, it can just be about having fun with shapes and colors.