Page 81 - International Iconic July 2024

AL EXAND ER
CALDER

revered American sculptor and painter, Alexander Calder outdoors and were stationary, which Jean Arp called ‘stabiles’. The
was born in 1898 in Pennsylvania to a family of artists. He first, titled ‘Devil Fish’, was a precursor for other revered works
A showed a penchant for creativity and artistic expression at such as the ‘Mercury Fountain’ at the Spanish Pavilion at the
an early age, creating sculptures of a dog and a duck from brass Parisian World Fair and ‘Lobster Trap and Fish Tail’ for the Museum
sheets at 11. The movement in the duck sculpture which rocked of Modern Art in New York. During this time, he also created sets
back and forth would foreshadow his illustrious career. for ballets by Martha Graham and a symphonic drama by Erik Satie.
Lovingly known as Sandy, he first trained to be a mechanical The 1940s and 1950s saw immense success for the artist as
engineer at Stevens Institute of Technology, graduating in 1919. he had his works displayed in major retrospectives at the George
He then joined the Art Students’ League in New York in 1923, Walter Vincent Smith Gallery (1938) and the Museum of Modern
during which he also illustrated for the National Police Gazette. Art (1943). He created several public commissions as well as
Here, he was assigned to create illustrations of the Ringling Bros. smaller works during this period. Similarly, in the 1960s and
and Barnum & Bailey Circus. This would lead to his fascination with 1970s, major retrospectives of the sculptor’s works were held at
circus scenes, which translated to his famed series Cirque Calder. the Guggenheim Museum (1964) and the Fondation Maeght in
Cirque Calder came to being post his move to Paris in 1926 France (1969). The last retrospective he was able to attend before
and included moving sculptural figurines of acrobats and animals his passing was at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1976).
constructed of wire and found material, which the sculptor moved Alexander Calder’s legacy and his impact on contemporary
himself, resulting in performance art. He also created several artists of the time and in the present time are enormous. Not only

“To an engineer, good enough means perfect.

With an artist, there’s no such thing as perfect.”

wire portraits of his friends and renowned public figures. In 1928, is he credited with the introduction of ‘mobiles’ and ‘stabiles’ in
as Calder’s fame grew, he held his first solo show at the Weyhe the art world, but for forever altering the way we view visual arts.
Gallery in New York, post which he held several exhibitions in Although Calder was preoccupied with sculptures throughout
New York, Berlin and Paris. His stay in Paris was filled with meeting his artistic career, he never abandoned his initial fascination with
other famed artists such as Joan Miró, Marcel Duchamp, Fernand painting. Many of his works were executed with gouache, which he
Léger and Piet Mondrian among others. He visited Mondrian first used in 1953 in Aix-en-Provence, France, and then continued
in his studio in 1930 and was heavily impacted to lean towards to use throughout his life. These paintings displayed Calder’s
abstraction, creating a series of abstract paintings before shifting immense fascination with movement and his exploration of vivid
his focus back to sculpture. primary colours. First inspired to experiment with abstraction by
The year 1931 was a monumental year for Calder. He married Piet Mondrian, his works utilise abstracted and geometric forms
Louisa James and created his first truly kinetic sculpture, in effect along with celestial and natural motifs.
inventing what Marcel Duchamp called the ‘mobile’. The early Often seen in his sculptures, spirals are also heavily featured
instances of kinetic sculpture were powered by a motor that was in his paper works. His process involved painting freely and
later abandoned in favour of undulating sculptures that moved quickly, utilising vividly coloured planes and lines of movement
solely by air currents. Upon his move back to America in 1933, he to showcase his varied interpretations of patterns, metaphysical
started taking on larger sculptural commissions which were placed themes and geometric form.