Calder: The Conquest of Time: A Conversation with Jed Perl and Alexander S. C. Rower

Jed Perl, author of Calder: The Conquest of Time, and contributor, The New York Review of Books; and Alexander S. C. Rower, Calder's grandson and president, Calder Foundation. On November 5, 2017 at the National Gallery of Art Jed Perl joins Alexander S. C. Rower to discuss the newly published Calder: The Conquest of Time: The Early Years: 1898-1940. This first biography of Alexander Calder, one of the most beloved and widely admired artists of the 20th century, is based on unprecedented access to his letters and papers as well as scores of interviews. Born in 1898 into a family of artists, Calder forged important friendships in adulthood with artists including Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miró, and Piet Mondrian. Calder: The Conquest of Time moves from his early studies in engineering to his first artistic triumphs in Paris in the late 1920s, to his emergence as a leader in the international abstract avant-garde, and to his marriage in 1931 to the free-spirited Louisa James. The biography also sheds new light on Calder's lifelong interest in dance, theater, and performance, ranging from the Cirque Calder, the theatrical event which became his calling card in bohemian Paris, to collaborations with the choreographer Martha Graham and the composer Virgil Thomson.