“Untitled (Excavation)” is a cityscape painting by Alexander Calder, dating from around 1924. This piece is associated with the American Realism art movement.
In this artwork, we observe a bustling urban construction scene, emphasizing the expansive nature of urban development and industrial growth. There’s an open excavated area prominently featured in the foreground, surrounded by various construction materials. A crane towers on the left side of the composition, adding to the industrial ambiance of the scene. The background is filled with rising skyscrapers, exemplifying the vertical expansion of the city. The palette consists of earthy tones and muted colors, giving the image a sense of the gritty and dusty atmosphere typical of construction sites. The overall effect is a snapshot of the transformative energy and physicality of urban development during the early 20th century, as cities rapidly modernized and expanded.
