Alexander Calder - Portrait of de Celeyran (Michel Tapié)
Though “mobiles” best resonate with Alexander Calder, the artist’s initial recognition resulted from his portraits, duly fabricated out of wire. Following his studies in New York, Calder ventured to Paris in the mid-1920s, embracing the Parisian avant-garde with open arms. The young sculptor acquainted himself with notable figures, doodling their portraits with wire. The sculptures revealed the artist’s ingenuity and skill, earning Calder recognition and his first exhibit in Europe. In the same way Calder used his portraits as a conduit for establishing his place amongst the Parisian avant-garde, he intricately weaved his own name into the neck of Portrait of de Celeyran (Michel Tapié). We are reminded of the artist’s presence in the portrait, inclined to ask whether the work is a self-portrait as well. Is the presence of a signature an aspect of the self? Is all signed art a self-portrait?
Daria Modrzanska