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# Alexander Calder. Minimal/Maximal at the Neue Nationalgalerie
- URL: https://www.ivarhagendoorn.com/blog/2021/09/17/alexander-calder-minimal-maximal/
- Published: 2021-09-17T13:41:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-12-30T17:10:07.000Z
- Description: The juxtaposition of Calder’s organic forms and Mies van der Rohe’s modernist architecture is a masterstroke.
- Author: Ivar Hagendoorn
- Tags: Blog, Art

The Neue Nationalgalerie reopens with a retrospective of Alexander Calder, the American sculptor best known for his mobiles. The juxtaposition of Calder’s organic forms and Mies van der Rohe’s modernist architecture is a masterstroke. The curves of Calder’s larger works and the fragility of his smaller works form a perfect contrast with the steel frame and the austere marble walls of the Neue Nationalgalerie’s light-flooded grand hall.

I didn’t know that Calder produced a lot of small scale works, some of which fit onto the palm of a hand. Like his larger mobiles they are a joy to see. There is a lightness to his work, both literally and metaphorically, that is often wanting in modern or contemporary art.

By rare exception two mobiles are set into motion at a regular interval. I was lucky to catch one demonstration.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f7/c4/f7c4338c-1a69-4369-8416-8d74c9880bb6/content/images/2021/09/calder-minimal-maximal-1.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f7/c4/f7c4338c-1a69-4369-8416-8d74c9880bb6/content/images/2021/09/calder-minimal-maximal-4.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f7/c4/f7c4338c-1a69-4369-8416-8d74c9880bb6/content/images/2021/09/calder-minimal-maximal-3.jpg)

Alexander Calder at the Neue Nationalgalerie

**Alexander Calder Minimal/Maximal** is at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin until 13 February 2022.