Calder, Alexander (1898-1976)
Alexander Calder was born in Philadelphia. He was the son of Alexander Stirling Calder and grandson of Alexander Milne Calder, both well-known sculptors. He studied mechanical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology, and art at the Art Students League in New York City. In 1925, after doing line drawings for the National Police Gazette he published his first book, Animal Sketches, in brush and ink. In 1926, he began to carve primitive figures in tropical woods that remained an important medium in his work until 1930. In 1931, after a visit to abstract artist Piet Mondrian's studio, he did his first non-objective construction.
Alexander Calder made ingenious, witty use of natural and man-made materials including wire, sheet metal, wood and bronze to create his mobiles", a name first used by Marcel Duchamp to describe this new idiom in modern art. Calder created mobiles (suspended, moving structures), standing mobiles (anchored, moving sculptures), and stabiles (stationary constructions). His first mobiles were motor driven, later they were wind driven to enable all parts to move independently of each other by nature and chance.
In 1935, after attending classes at the Academie de la Grande Chaumier in Paris, Calder made his first wire sculptures. Calder worked in many art forms including drawing, oil painting, watercolour, etching, gouache and serigraphy. He also designed jewellery, tapestry, theatre settings and architectural interiors. He died in 1976." |
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