A beautiful vintage framed abstract lithograph from the Flying Colors Collection commissioned by Braniff International Airlines
By Alexander Calder
USA, 1973
Measures: 27″W x 22″H (including frame).
Original vintage condition. See photos.
ALEXANDER CALDER (1898-1976) Credited with the invention of the mobile, Alexander Calder revolutionized twentieth-century art with his innovative use of subtle air currents to animate sculpture. Calder was prolific and worked throughout his career in many art forms. An accomplished painter of gouaches and sculptor in a variety of media, Calder is best known for poetic arrangements of boldly colored, irregularly shaped geometric forms that convey a sense of harmony and balance. He also designed jewelry, tapestry, theater settings and architectural interiors. From the 1940s on, Calder’s works, many of them large-scale outdoor sculptures, have been placed in virtually every major city of the Western world.
ABOUT THE FLYING COLORS COLLECTION:
In 1972, Dallas based Braniff International Airways commissioned Alexander Calder to paint a full-size Douglas DC-8-62 airliner as a “flying canvas.” Models of the aircraft were sent to Calder at his studio in France in November of 1972, and work commenced. Braniff announced the Calder collaboration to the public on June 4, 1973. This was to be the first time that an artist had ever painted a jetliner used in regular airline service. Painting began at the carrier’s Dallas Love Field Operations and Maintenance Base. Calder supervised the painting of the aircraft at the Braniff Base, and personally painted the two left side engine nacelles with two of his designs called “Beastie” and “Sunburst”. While at the hangar Calder befriended many of the Braniff Maintenance and Engineering personnel and even painted his unique designs on their lunch pails and toolboxes. At the time, some of the employees did not like the designs but quickly changed their mind once they realized they became owner’s of their own Calder masterpieces. This lithograph is one from a set of six comprising The Flying Colors Collection commemorating this historic project which created a piece of artwork that was seen by more people than have looked at any other single work of art in the 20th century.