"Sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) and painter Joan Miro (1893-1983) became lifelong friends after their first meeting in Paris in 1928. This book and the exhibition it accompanies are about their extraordinary friendship and the early years of their careers." "The charming correspondence between Calder and Miro is published here for the first time. It begins in 1928 with Calder's letter introducing himself to Miro and continues after Calder's death with Miro's poetic homage to his old friend. Rare photographs of the two men together and of the gifts of artwork they exchanged document the friendship. An extensive chronology highlights the intersecting lives of the two artists and, with the correspondence, opens a window into the personal and professional lives of these two giants of artistic invention." "Calder and Miro shared many artistic interests, and the catalogue is organized around common themes such as the circus, bestiary, universe, and constellations. The artists shared an ambition to create monumental works for public spaces, but while waiting for those opportunities their unique approach to their work allowed them to achieve monumentality on a reduced scale. Miro's small Constellations evoke the tradition of Romanesque frescoes, while Calder's earliest stabiles and mobiles occupy space in a way that transcends their size, paving the way for later monumental works. The editors, in their two essays and in their organization of the color plates, focus on the first two decades of the artists' careers, culminating in the monumental public commissions that Calder and Miro received for the decoration of the Terrace Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, in 1947."--BOOK JACKET.