A huge dragon lands at Place Vendôme in Paris: it is Alexander Calder's Flying Dragon

A huge dragon has landed in Place Vendôme in Paris: it is Alexander Calder ’s (Lawton, 1898 - New York, 1976) 1975 Flying Dragon, which will remain on display in the French capital’s central square for the time FIAC, the major contemporary art fair in Paris, which this year runs from October 21 to 24. The work is on display for the FIAC Hors les Murs initiative, which has been bringing the works of great artists of our time to the square since 2012. Calder’s monumental sculpture is a novelty, however, because in previous editions Place Vendôme had always hosted works by living artists (in order: Jaume Plensa, Tadashi Kawamata, Paul McCarthy, Dan Graham, Ugo Rondinone, Oscar Tuazon, Emlgreen & Dragset, and Yayoi Kusama), and for the first time in 2021 comes the work of a historicized artist instead.

Presented by Gagosian, the work Flying Dragon is in the vein of Calder’s signature visual lexicon founded on the interplay between nature and abstraction, stillness and movement, monumentality and transience. The large sculpture is emblematic of the imagination and ingenuity that have given Calder an important place in modern art. Its title is a figurative reference that invites the viewer to compare Calder’s bold forms, which reduce the subject to its essential lines, and those of the dragon. Because of its monumentality and proportions, the sculpture seems heavy, but the few delicate points of contact with the ground suggest a body in motion, that of a red, flaming dragon that will rise into the air at any moment.

The Flying Dragon is a work that combines Calder’s technical skills, which he studied as an engineer, and his ability to create a harmonious composition between dissonant associations and various formal elements. Using elegant lines, simple forms, and an understated, vibrant palette, Calder was able to create a unique vocabulary that straddled abstraction and figuration, demonstrating an intuitive understanding of weight and mass. And his monumental sculptures use this vocabulary to activate the space around them and the imagination of passersby. Which Flying Dragon in Paris will also attempt to do.

Image: Alexander Calder, Flying Dragon (1975; sheet metal, bolts and paint, 9.1 x 17.1 x 6.6 m) © 2021 Calder Foundation, New York / ADAGP Paris 2021 / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Marc Domage / Alexander Calder

A huge dragon lands at Place Vendôme in Paris: it is Alexander Calder's Flying Dragon

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