Man on a wire: The playful simplicity of Alexander Calder

Craig Raine | New Statesman | 13th November 2015

Last week’s Easel included a noted critic arguing that there is a sameness to Calder’s mobiles, now on exhibition in London. There may be some truth to this – if only because of the number that he produced – but it also surely understates Calder’s contribution to sculpture. Here, another noted critic offers a contrasting assessment – “[w]ho else but Calder could have made this unrelenting material [wire] so fluid?”