Alexander Calder’s Peau Rouge

One of America’s most significant 20th-century sculptors, Alexander Calder created Peau Rouge in 1970. The multi-ton steel structure was fabricated in France but intended for its site beside the IU Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. The monumental sculpture is energized by its bold color, a custom shade of red only available from the Calder Foundation that safeguards the artist’s legacy. This color imparts a sense of ascension, of action rising like a conductor leading our eyes upward to a visual climax 40 feet in the air.

The scope of work includes building a full containment structure, media blasting the steel, remediating specific corrosion areas, and painting with a special system prescribed by Mack Art Conservation.

As Jungclaus-Campbell’s vice president Bill Nagler states, the company is proud to be entrusted with the restoration of this Bloomington landmark – indeed, this national landmark. Before his death in 1976, Peau Rouge was the last large-scale work that Calder created for a specific site and institutional patron. Bringing it back to full artistic power is an honor.