Enfoncez le mot (from Vingt-deux poemes by Jean Cassou)
Entry/Object ID
2007.18
Artwork Details
Medium
lithograph on paper
Context
Credit Line: Gift of Thomas H. & Virginia L. Horner
Made/Created
Artist
Alexander Calder
Date made
1978
Dimensions
Dimension Description
Frame Size
Height
20-3/4 in
Width
17 in
Dimension Description
Image Size
Height
14-1/4 in
Width
10-3/4 in
Interpretative Labels
Label
Alexander Calder worked as an abstract sculptor and has been commonly referred to as the creator of the mobile. He used materials such as wire and metal, transforming them into geometric shapes that respond to the wind or float in air. It was after moving to Paris in 1926 that Calder took up printmaking, upon befriending Stanley William Hayter, an artist and infl uential printmaker. Throughout his long career, Calder created many etchings and lithographic prints which echoed his famous sculptural
works. Printmaking remained a lifelong passion of Calder’s.
"Enfoncez le mot" was published as part of the portfolio "Hommage à Cassou" (Homage to Cassou), with prints by artists Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and others, accompanied by poems by Jean Cassou. "Enfoncez le mot" translates to "Pushing the word," as Cassou was a poet, writer, and member of the French Resistance. The poems were applied to the lithographic stone by Cassou, and each one correlates to a print from the portfolio. The publication appeared on the occasion of the two-volume complete edition of Cassou's lyrical work.
