$38,000
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000
Modern & Contemporary Works of Art
Auction: November 6, 2011 2:00:00 PM EDT
Signed and dated 'CA 75' bottom left, gouache on paper
40 1/4 x 14 3/4 in. (102.2 x 37.5cm)
Provenance: The artist.
The Estate of Jack L. Wolgin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Note:
This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation under identification number A19110.
Note:
In 1975, Jack Wolgin commissioned Alexander Calder to design eight banners to hang in the atrium of his Centre Square, downtown Philadelphia complex as part of the Redevelopment Authority's percent-for-art program requirement. The artist submitted proposed designs to Mr. Wolgin in the form of gouache works on paper, one of which is offered here. The magnificent final products, brilliantly hued banners of dyed cotton and silk ranged from 18 to 28 feet in length and were unveiled at a gala event on July 1st, 1976, timed to coincide with the city's bicentennial celebration.
The banners are the only ones ever designed by the artist.
Suspended from the sky-lit atrium around a large sculpture by Jean Dubuffet with the newly installed 40-foot "Clothespin" by Claes Oldenburg just outside, the three works together made a stunning impact and instantly marked Philadelphia as a great supporter and nurturer of public art. Mary Kilroy, former head of the Redevelopment Authority art program, said the 1976 installation of those artworks marked a cultural "breakout" for the city.
After Centre Square was sold in the 1980's, the atrium was re-designed and the banners temporarily removed and placed in storage. Ownership of Centre Square subsequently changed hands at least twice more, and the banners were lost for many years. Thanks to the efforts of many people including Susan Davis, former director of public art at the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, however, the banners were found in 2009 and hung at the Philadelphia Free Library for public viewing for the first time in over twenty years.