Whitney Museum to Celebrate Centennial of Alexander Calder’s Circus with Major Exhibition
The Whitney Museum presents the exhibition High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100, which runs October 18, 2025–March 9, 2026. The show marks the centennial of Alexander Calder’s Circus (1926–31), one of the museum’s most iconic works. Calder constructed the miniature circus in Paris using wire, fabric, cork, wood, string and found objects, staging performances for audiences including Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian and Isamu Noguchi. The exhibition is organized by Jennie Goldstein, Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Curator of the Collection, and Roxanne Smith, Jennifer Rubio Assistant Curator of the Collection.
The Signal
The presentation situates the Circus within Calder’s early experiments with performance and popular entertainment, tracing direct links to the movement, balance and ephemerality that later defined his mobiles. For curators and collectors it supplies primary evidence of the artist’s foundational concerns, clarifying how a single body of work shaped an entire sculptural practice. Institutions holding Calder pieces can use the show to reassess dating, provenance and display strategies for related mobiles and wire constructions.
- Artists: Alexander Calder
- People: Jennie Goldstein, Roxanne Smith, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian, Isamu Noguchi
- Museums: Whitney Museum
- Locations: New York
The Morning Signal · Daily
Get stories like this in your inbox
The art world in one daily email — auctions, openings, and acquisitions from 90+ primary sources, distilled into a five-minute read. Independent — no marketplace, no gallery ads.
No spam · free every morning · unsubscribe anytime
The Jobs Digest · Weekly
New art-world jobs, every Monday
The Jobs Digest rounds up the week’s new museum, gallery, and auction-house openings — with salary when disclosed. One email a week, unsubscribe anytime.
