Four Directions is one of Calder’s signature mobiles, a type of multifaceted sculpture he typically constructed with cut pieces of lightweight painted aluminum connected by wire. Hung from the ceiling, the piece responds to its environment, especially changes in airflow, by setting into slow, drifting motion. The artist choreographed the general direction of its movement by determining and executing effective systems of counterbalance, with larger elements offsetting the combined weight of clusters of smaller ones. Due to this effect of floating equilibrium, Calder’s sculpture resembles constellations of celestial bodies in space. Its palette of primary colors—blue, red, and yellow (accompanied by black and white)—recalls his early exposure to the work of Dutch painter and designer Piet Mondrian, which he credited for his own turn to abstraction.
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Inscription: Signed and dated on large black leaf: CA 56
the artist (from 1956; to Maeght); [Galerie Maeght, Paris]; David Solinger; [Klaus Perls Galleries, New York, by 1964–65; sold on October 4, 1965 to B. C. Holland]; [B. C. Holland Gallery, Chicago, 1965; sold to Newman]; Muriel Kallis Newman, Chicago (until 2006; her gift to MMA)
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition," November 6, 1964–January 31, 1965, no. 161 (lent by Perls Galleries, New York).
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Mobiles and Stabiles by Calder: The Man Who Made Sculpture Move," May 1–30, 1965, no. 161 (lent by B. C. Holland, Chicago).
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne. "Calder," July 8–October 15, 1965, no. 174 (lent by Perls Galleries, New York).
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition, Work from 1925 to 1974," October 26–December 8, 1974, unnumbered cat. (dated 1959; lent by a private collection).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 49).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 53.
Arthur Darack. Gunther Schuller. American Triptych: Three Studies in Texture. [Chicago], 1966, unpaginated, ill. [program notes for a musical composition partly based on this work, performed in Chicago by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, January 23, 1966].
Monica Meenan. "The Vigorous Collectors." Town and Country 132 (September 1978), ill. p. 148 (installation photo, Newman's home).
Judith Goldman. "Collecting in Chicago: 'Love Affairs with Art'." Art News 78 (February 1979), p. 49.
Alice Hess. "Great Private Collections: A Chicago Visionary." Saturday Review 7 (October 1980), ill. p. 74.
Grace Glueck. "Met Is Given a $12 Million Art Collection." New York Times (December 10, 1980), p. B7.
Hilton Kramer. "Modernist Show Moves Met Firmly into Art of 20th Century." New York Times (May 22, 1981), p. C1.
M. W. Newman. "Chicago." Franklin Mint Almanac 12 (July–August 1981), ill. p. 20 (color, installation photo, Newman home).
Judith Goldman. "Collecting: Vicarious Pleasures of a Daring Painter-Turned-Collector." Vogue (August 1981), ill. p. 50.
William Agee. "Muriel Kallis Newman–Life Among the Moderns." Architectural Digest 43 (December 1986), p. 66, ill. p. 70 (color, installation photo).
Victoria Newhouse. Art and the Power of Placement. New York, 2005, fig. 164 (installation photo, Newman home).
Gary Tinterow inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, fig. 4 (color, installation photo, Newman home, ca. 1981).
Marla Prather inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 172–73, no. 53, ill. (color).
Alexander Calder (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1898–1976 New York)
1961
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