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ALEXANDER CALDER
1898 - 1976
American, 1898 - 1976
Alexander Calder is perhaps best known for his large, colorful sculpture, which incorporates elements of humor and chance into uniquely engineered structures. Calder was born outside of Philadelphia to a successful, artistic family. His father and grandfather--both named Alexander Calder--were distinguished sculptors and his mother was a portrait painter. Although he initially studied mechanical engineering, receiving a degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, he eventually enrolled in the Art Students League in New York City (1923-1926) and studied painting with John Sloan and George Luks, among others. While working as a graphic artist on assignment at the zoo and circus, Calder discovered his facility for sketching animals. This subject would become a lifelong passion.
In 1927 Calder went to Paris. Initially he created small, movable wood and wire figures, which he then assembled into a miniature circus, complete with balancing acrobats and a roaring lion. The popularity of "Calder's circus" soon brought him in contact with other artistic innovators. In the early 1930s, inspired by the color and composition of Piet Mondrian's work, Calder created his breakthrough mobiles. At first these abstract sculptures were motorized; later Calder modified his design to allow free-floating movement, powered only by air currents. These signature works incorporated Calder's interests in physics, astronomy, and kinetics, and above all, his sense of play.
By 1933 Calder had returned to the United States, where his abstract-organic sculpture, both mobile and stationary, attracted considerable attention and acclaim. He settled in Connecticut and continued to produce innovative works on both a large and small scale. After 1950 Calder spent part of each year in France. In addition to the monumental sculptures that can be seen in the United States and Europe, Calder applied his whimsical and lyrical sense of design to media as diverse as metal jewelry and theater sets.
(From www.nga.gov)
A Centennial Commemoration: This display of works from the Museum's permanent collection commemorates the birth of Alexander Calder in 1898 in Philadelphia. Although Calder's father and grandfather were both sculptors, he studied engineering before gradually moving into the field of art, principally as an illustrator. In 1926 he travelled to Paris where he quickly came into contact with some of the most gifted modern artists in Europe.
He associated with such artists as Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, and specifically Naum Gabo, and the art movement known as Constuctivism. He experimented with abstract painting and wire constructions that demonstrated his mastery of constructed space sculpture.
During the 1930s Calder created motorized "mobiles" that were so named by the artist Marcel Duchamp. Jean Arp, another artist of the period is credited with coining the term "stabiles" in referring to Calder's other static sculptures. Calder's wind mobiles were either standing or hanging and made of plates of metal or other materials suspended on strings or wires, in a state of delicate balance.
From the late 1940s Calder developed a growing interest in monumental forms. His delicate mobiles were transformed into large-scale works with powerful but precisely balanced metal rods that were tipped with large, flat, organically shaped disks. During the 1950s and 60s Calder executed numerous commissions for public buildings in Europe and the United Sates, producing works that encompassed and defined large areas of architectural space. In these later years Calder produced works that energized inert and vacuous public spaces with innovative splendor and the simple charm of his minimalist forms.
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