Crinkly Gets a New Home

Detail of Crinkly showing Alexander Calder's signature.

The town of Amboise is the proud custodian of an Alexander Calder sculpture. The internationally known American born 20th century sculptor lived for many years in the Loire Valley.

It has been away on loan for an exhibition in Berlin, and the authorities in Amboise took advantage of its return to move it from its previous position in the grounds of Le Garage Arts Centre to a prime new position in Place Henri d'Orléans, next to the town hall. This is a much more prominent position, where many more people will see the sculpture.

The sculpture is owned by the National Centre for the Visual Arts (Centre national des arts plastiques) and was requested for display in Amboise in 1970 by the former mayor Michel Debré. It is regularly loaned for exhibition, because it is both a stabile and a mobile, which is rather rare in Calder's work.

The sculpture is large and heavy, being 3.5 metres high, 2 metres wide and weighing nearly half a tonne. The current site is its fourth position in town. It was first on the Ile d'Or, the island in the middle of the Loire at Amboise, then in the grounds of the school, before moving to Le Garage and now finally Place Henri d'Orléans.