Shown in 2013, the CALDER | PROUVÉ exhibition was the result of Larry Gagosian and Patrick Seguin’s shared passion for the major figures of contemporary art and architecture of the 20th century. The show was an unprecedented pairing of the works of Alexander Calder and of Jean Prouvé, great trailblazers of the 20th century, and demonstrated their genuine artistic dialogue.
Featuring a short essay by Annie Cohen-Solal, the publication meticulously retraces this two-part exhibition, whose protagonists, Alexander Calder and Jean Prouvé – one as artist, the other as designer – mastered the techniques of transforming metal to give it dynamic form. Favoring steel and aluminum as raw materials, they shaped them into objects and structures, both light and monumental. Brought together in a variety of surprising combinations in this unprecedented double exhibition, Calder and Prouvé’s pieces, with their universalist aspirations and enduring appeal, embody the soul of the modernist vision.
