Alexander Calder, McGovern for President, 1972

Alexander Calder

McGovern for President, 1972

Lithograph on wove paper with deckled edges

Signed and numbered 93/200 in graphite pencil on the front; also bears blind stamp from Styria Studio, the publisher

34 1/2 × 24 inches

Unframed

lithograph on wove paper with deckled edges
Pencil signed and numbered 93/200
Published by Styria Studio, New York
Bears publisher's blind stamp
In 1972, Alexander Calder was commissioned by the Democratic National Committee to create a series of prints as a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. This is one of them. Calder was fiercely opposed to the Vietnam War, so like many artists, he supported the Quixotic, but ultimately doomed Presidential candidacy of the ultra-liberal George McGovern. Indeed, despite Calder's best artistic efforts, Richard Nixon went on to win the election in a landslide. This is a historic print and McGovern's liberal, anti-war message resonates with Americans to this very day.
Bibliography: George McGovern & the Democratic Insurgents: The Best Campaign and Political Posters of the Last Fifty Years (University of Nebraska Press), Hal Elliot Wert