Susan Braeuer Dam

A sumptuous compendium of Alexander Calder's chess works, with ephemera and archival materialsThis handsome volume celebrates Alexander Calder's fascination with the game of chess. It comprises two parts: the first features scholarly and experimental texts exploring such topics as Calder's relationship with Marcel Duchamp (who was famously obsessed with chess) and his involvement in the 1944 exhibition The Imagery of Chess at Julien Levy Gallery. Archival documentation, ephemera and reproductions of Calder's chess sets--including photographs of each chess piece and related works on paper--are also featured. The second part of the book presents The Knightmares Portfolio, an approximation of an unrealized publication conceived in 1944 but never published. It comprises 46 chess drawings by Calder inscribed with titles, alternate titles and puns by Duchamp, Mary Reynolds and Calder. Alexander Calder (1898-1976) settled in Paris in the late 1920s, and soon found himself at the center of the city's artistic avant-garde. There, he developed his seminal Cirque Calder, a performance artwork comprising dozens of miniature handmade objects, and a group of standalone figurative works in wire. In 1930, Calder shifted towards abstraction with his invention of the mobile--an abstract sculpture made of independent parts that incorporate natural or mechanical movement. Calder would continue to explore the possibilities of this visual language for the rest of his career, though eventually shifting to monumental constructions and public works.

Calder in France, produced in collaboration with the Calder Foundation, is a tribute to Alexander Calder that focuses on the modern artist's long-standing relationship with France, beginning with his years in Paris from 1926 to 1933, during which time the artist firmly established his imprint on the avant-garde scene. After the war, Calder spent significant periods of time in Paris, Aix-en-Provence, and finally in Sach , where he would design his final monumental studio in 1963 that became in 1989 the Atelier Calder residency program. The revue contains images of Calder's work, interviews with Tadashi Kawamata, Abraham Cruzvillegas, and Rachel Harrison, a selection of images of past residents' work, and a special portfolio of models for new sculptures by 2014 resident Monika Sosnowska, highlights on Calder's relationship with former Cahiers d'Art publisher Christian Zervos through reproduction of pivotal essays on Calder published during the artist's lifetime, texts by Alexander S. C. Rower, Calder's grandson and President of the Calder Foundation, Susan Braeuer Dam, Director of Research and Publications at the Calder Foundation, and contributions by Alfred Pacquement, Rapha l Bouvier, Robert Rubin, and Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Accompanying the texts will be defining photographs of Calder and his work by Ugo Mulas and also Agnes Varda, with an interview by art historian Joan Simon.