"At the outset [Calcagno] eschewed abstraction, but would use what he found to suit his emotional necessities, which meant that he distorted color and form expressively, while his images remained rooted in observation and not in the idea of abstraction. He later felt permission to work totally abstractly, using relationships intuitively.

His best work adds importantly to the achievements of his Abstract Expressionist generation; and like his peers, his work continued to grow in physical power for many years. In the later sixties he was sensitive to the prevalent minimalist view and his works lost some of their dimensional and textural energy, but he was able to compensate for those losses with his increasing technical virtuosity."--BOOK JACKET.