The X and Its Tails

1967

Alexander Calder American, 1898-1976

Not On View

The X and Its Tails: 1 of Collection Gallery

The X and Its Tails: 2 of Collection Gallery

The X and Its Tails: 3 of Collection Gallery

The X and Its Tails: 4 of Collection Gallery

The X and Its Tails: 5 of Collection Gallery

The X and Its Tails: 6 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

The literal and the whimsical meet in The X and Its Tails. Long before the minimalists talked about lifting sculpture off its pedestal, the pragmatist Alexander Calder made some sculptures hover in the air and other sculptures squat on the ground.
Son and grandson of Philadelphia sculptors, Calder had been trained as an engineer, but he drew the art world's attention in the 1920s with an animated circus built from wire figures and wooden toys.
Prompted by Mondrian's drastically simplified paintings, Calder began to experiment with free-standing abstract shapes and primary colors. Jean Arp gave them their name of "stabiles." Next, Calder cut leaflike shapes, reminiscent of Miro, from sheet metal, attached them to rods and suspended them from the celling. Marcel Duchamp obliged and called them "mobiles."

Title The X and Its Tails

Artwork Date 1967

Artist Alexander Calder

Life Dates 1898-1976

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Steel plate with black paint

Dimensions Overall: 120 × 120 × 144 inches (304.8 cm × 304.8 cm × 3 m 65.8 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Gift of W. Hawkins Ferry

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 67.113

Markings

Signed Signed, on end piece: CA 67

Inscriptions Dated: CA 67

Provenance

1967-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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