Untitled is a gouache rendering of a car, lion, man on horseback, and a bike stacked on atop the other in the same brand of abstraction and primary colors as Calder’s kinetic mobiles. Calder was inspired by his early work for the National Police Gazette illustrating The Ringling Bros. and Barum & Bailey circus, as well as his hundreds of brush drawings of animals at the Bronx and Central Park zoos. All four whimsical subjects are dynamic, in motion and colorful - visual language seen throughout his oeuvre. His small toys and mobiles are transformed here into “three-dimensional line drawings.” In 1926, Calder published a drawing handbook, Animal Sketchings, of animal caricatures in action from his zoo and circus illustrations, which included camels, cats, goats and chickens. Untitled’s horse and lion are drawn from these earlier illustrations and capture both the spirit of animal subjects and Calder’s inimitable playfulness.