John Moran Auctioneers is pleased to present a unique collection of works by Alexander Calder. These works come from John McKaughan Jr., Art Director of Braniff International Airways who worked closely with Alexander Calder at the end of his career, when Calder created the Flying Colors Series – a collaboration with Braniff Airways. The collection includes unique paintings and design tests by Calder, as well as prints, a hand-made visor that Calder was known to make while working in his studio, and a model plane with vinyl designs that match the official DC-8 jetliner that Calder painted and designed for Braniff.
Alexander Calder for Braniff International Airways with John McKaughan
A multidisciplinary modern artist, Alexander Calder (1898-1976) is most notably known for his kinetic sculptures or mobiles often made with bright colors and whimsical shapes. Calder had a creative outlet early in life, being born into a family of artists, he created small sculptures as early as eight years old and would even have his own workshop growing up. Years later he would go on to earn a mechanical engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919. When he returned to an artistic profession after graduating, this degree would prove valuable as he created his uniquely engineered sculptures later in life.
In 1926, Calder moved to Paris and began working more diligently with wire, creating a large body of work known as “Cirque Calder,” an assemblage that included miniature performers, animals, and props. Calder would put on performances of his hand-crafted circus in both Paris and New York. He would go on to split his time between France and the United States by 1950, finding continued artistic success in both countries and connecting with other well-known artists such as Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, and Marcel Duchamp who coined the phrase “Mobile” for Calder’s kinetic sculptures, referring to the French word “mobile” meaning motion or active.
With his work shown around the world, and having created paintings and sculptures on a grand scale, Calder was pitched the idea of collaborating with Braniff International Airways to paint one of their DC-8 jetliners, as well as 50 gouaches for a series known as “Flying Colors.” It was in 1973 when their collaboration began, and it was not the first time Braniff had worked with a renowned artist, having already bridged the gap between design, fashion, and aviation, as they worked with fashion designer and printmaker Emilio Pucci. Starting in 1965 through 1974, Pucci designed six collections of designer uniforms for Braniff’s stewardesses and airline personnel. “Flying Colors” was aimed to commemorate an expansion of Braniff flights from the United States to South America. Throughout this process, Calder worked closely with Braniff Art Director, John McKaughan Jr., who this collection comes from. McKaughan traveled extensively to Latin America, and Calder himself used colors that he found most striking during his trips to South America as an influence for the color palette used on the plane. In addition, Calder himself added unique figures and “beasties” to the engine nacelles, which these designs were used to create the “Flying Colors” suite, a collection of lithographs that is rarely found to contain all six original designs.
The “Flying Colors” Series extended beyond the Braniff tarmac. Calder made several fiberglass models with various hand-painted designs, which were then used for the final design of the DC-8 plane. In the Fall of 1973, five of these models were displayed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, they were installed hanging to appear floating around the rotunda of the museum.
In 1975, after the success of the Flying Colors campaign, Alexander Calder and Braniff Airways collaborated once again for the “Flying Colors of the United States.” This time, the designs commemorated the Bicentennial of the United States, with more U.S.-centric colors of red, white, and blue painted in ribbon-like strokes across a Boeing 727-200. More lithographs and gouaches arose from this series, with unique works and test designs included in the McKaughan collection.
Alexander Calder passed away the following year, in 1976, making his collaboration with Braniff Airways a large milestone and emphatic exclamation point at the end of his career.