Seed Pod and Cattails

Alexander Calder

1968

Gouache on paper

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In 1968, Alexander Calder made dynamic brush drawings of marsh reeds, usually with an additional symbol, such as the sun, flowers, or a seed pod like this one. One can imagine Calder, so famous for his mobiles, brought to life with air movement, watching with rapt attention as breezes set long grasses into motion. “What I produce is not precisely what I have in mind, ” Calder explained, “but a sort of sketch, a man-made approximation. That others grasp what I have in mind seems unessential … as long as they have something else in theirs.” Gallery Not on View Bequest of Bruce B. Dayton