Alexander Calder

American, 1898–1976

BiographySon of the sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder (1870-1945), Calder first trained as an engineer at the Stevens Institute of Technology from 1915-19. After his graduation, he worked at several engineering jobs until an increased interest in art led him to enroll in the Art Students League of New York in 1923. Arriving in Paris in 1926, he was influenced by the abstract painting and sculpture of Mondrian, Miró, and Arp. It was during this period that he began creating his wire figure sculptures. By 1932 he abandoned these representational wire sculptures for freestanding, mechanically-driven stabiles. Soon he began to make mobiles, also using simple, primary-colored forms. He continued to explore sculptural means rather than mechanical possibilities in creating movement in his work, utilizing geometric forms and organic imagery.

In 1943 Calder had a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the youngest American artist to be so honored. After the war he divided his time between homes in France and Connecticut, and traveled widely around the world. International recognition continued for the next three decades. By 1958 Calder had completed three large-scale sculptures in New York, Brussels, and Paris, and during the 1950s and '60s he received numerous commissions for large-scale outdoor sculptures. In 1971 Calder received the Gold Medal for Sculpture from the American Institute of Arts and Letters. In addition to sculpture Calder also produced paintings, book illustrations, and stage sets.