Alexander Calder

ALEXANDER CALDERIllustrator, Sculptor (1898–

1976)

BIOGRAPHY “People think monuments should come out of the ground, never out of the ceiling, but mobiles too can be monumental.“ Alexander Calder

QUICK FACTSNAME

Alexander

OCCUPATIONIllustrator , Sculptor

BIRTH DATEJuly 22, 1898

DEATH DATENovember 11, 1976

EDUCATIONArt Students League

PLACE OF BIRTHLawnton Pensylvania

PLACE OF DEATHNew York

NICKNAMESandy Calder

KEY IDEAS Alexander Calder made play the

major theme of his art. Over the course of more than fifty years, he worked harder than most in the pursuit of the creation of his own universe, invented a whole new genre, an art of moving sculpture known as ‘mobiles,’ and made works on an unsurpassed scale.

But he was also an incredibly interesting character, a man who had a childlike view of life which translated seamlessly into his work.

MORE KEY IDEAS

Many artists made contour line drawings on paper, but Calder was the first to use wire to create three-dimensional line "drawings" of people, animals, and objects. These "linear sculptures" introduced line into sculpture as an element itself.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT (1898-1925)

Calder made hundreds of brush drawings of animals at the Bronx and Central Park zoos, later published in Animal Sketching. 

WIRE SCULPTURE AND THE CIRCUS (1926-1930)

 He “drew” with wire in three dimensions the portraits of friends, animals, circus themes, and personalities of the day…

“THE CIRCUS” Soon after moving to Paris in 1926, Calder created his Cirque Calder. Made of wire and a spectrum of found materials, the Cirque was a work of performance art that gained Calder an introduction to the Parisian avant-garde.

SHIFT TO ABSTRACTION (1930-1936)

A Visit in October of 1930 to Mondrian’s studio, where he was impressed by the environment and actuation of space, Calder made his first wholly abstract compositions and invented the kinetic sculpture now known as the mobile.

PUBLIC COMMISIONS AND THE WAR (1937-1945)

In 1937, Calder completed Devil Fish, his first stabile enlarged from a model. He received two important commissions: Mercury Fountain for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris World’s Fair and Lobster Trap and Fish Tail for the main stairwell of the new Museum of Modern Art building in New York in 1939. 

INTERNATIONAL DISTINCTION (1946-1952)

Calder represented the United States at the Venice Biennale, winning the grand prize for sculpture. 

LARGE SCALE DEVELOPMENT (1953-1962)

 Calder executed the first group of large-scale outdoor works and concurrently concentrated on painting gouaches.

MONUMENTAL WORKS (1963-1976)

In 1963, Calder completed construction of a large studio overlooking the Indre Valley. With the assistance of a full-scale, industrial ironworks, he began to fabricate his monumental works in France and devoted much of his later working years to public commissions.

CALDER FOUNDATION