An early example of Calder’s free-hanging abstract sculptures, which Dada artist Marcel Duchamp christened “mobiles,” Black Clouds consists of two large sheets of metal painted black and suspended on string from a metal rod. These irregularly curved shapes derived from the sculptor’s interest in biomorphic forms, inspired by his encounters with European Surrealists, in particular Jean Arp and Joan Miró. The metal cutouts are balanced against four wood balls attached to one another by wire and string in a perfectly calibrated balancing act. The sculpture’s evocative title portends difficulty and fear, possibly in response to military conflict spreading across Europe in the lead-up to World War II.
No image available
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
the artist, New York (sold to Piening); M. Peter Piening, New York (until ca. 1960; sold ca. 1960 through Walter Randel Gallery, New York, to Bollt); Robert and Andrea Bollt, New York (ca. 1960–his d. 1984 ); Andrea Bollt, New York (1984–d. 2010; her bequest to MMA)
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition," November 6, 1964–January 31, 1965, no. 145 (as "The Black Clouds," 1936, lent by Robert Bollt, New York).
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Mobiles and Stabiles by Calder: The Man Who Made Sculpture Move," May 1–30, 1965, no. 145 (as "The Black Clouds," 1936, lent by Robert Bollt, New York).
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne. "Calder," July 8–October 15, 1965, no. 96 (as "Les Nuages noirs," 1936, lent by M. Robert Bolt [sic], New York].
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Alexander Calder: 1898–1976," March 29–July 12, 1998, no. 113 (lent by a private collection, New York).
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Alexander Calder: 1898–1976," September 4–December 1, 1998, no. 113.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawing without Paper: Selections from The Met Collection," March 12–September 18, 2022, no catalogue.
H. H. Arnason. Calder. Princeton, 1966, pp. 53, 186, ill. p. 51, dates it 1936; locates it in the collection of Robert Bollt, New York.
Arnauld Pierre inAlexander Calder: 1898–1976. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D. C., 1998, p. 332, no. 113, ill. p. 163 (color).
Alexander Calder (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1898–1976 New York)
1969
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
