Alexander Calder 1898-1976

Alexander “Sandy” Calder (1898-1976) was born in Philadelphia. He began sculpting at a young age but did not know at first that he wanted to be an artist. He received an engineering degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology and had a variety of jobs before attending the Art Students League in New York in 1923. He spent some time working as an illustrator, where he was sent to sketch scenes from the Barnum and Bailey Circus. This inspired him to create his first major project: a miniature circus made almost entirely with moving parts. This piece predated the performance art movement by almost half a century. 

 Calder is often credited with the invention of the mobile, though the term itself was coined by Marcel Duchamp. While Calder preferred working with three-dimensional objects, he also enjoyed painting and printmaking. Using geometric shapes and bold primary colors, he created images symbolic of people and wildlife. The composition of the prints invokes a sense of childlike wonder, as is true of many modern works by different artists. These pieces mirror the way Calder played with movement and space in his sculptures.

Calder worked primarily in geometric abstraction after meeting Piet Mondrian, who introduced Calder to the term “abstract” and overall had a great impact on his artistic style. After returning to the United States, he constructed sets for ballets for Eric Satie and Martha Graham, and he exhibited his first show in New York at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in 1934. Near the end of his life, his focus was on larger commissioned works such as the mobile, titled .125, that was hung in Idlewild (now John F. Kennedy) Airport.