Alexander
Calder
Alexander
Calder (1898 - 1976) son of a prominent sculptor, Alexander
Stirling Calder. Among the most innovative modern sculptors,
Calder was trained as a mechanical engineer. In 1930 he went
to Paris and was influenced by the art of Mondrian and Miro.
In 1932 he exhibited his first brightly colored constellations,
called mobiles, consisting of painted cut-out shapese connected
by wires and set in motion by wind currents. These buoyant inventions
and his witty wire portraits, his colorful and complex miniature
zoo, and his immobile sculptures known as stabiles, have brought
Calder world renown. Many of his later works are huge, heavy,
and delicately balanced mobiles produced for public buildings
throughout the world. Calder is also noted for his book illustratioins
and stage sets. He had studios in Roxbury, Conn., and Paris.
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