b. Lawnton, Pennsylvania 1898

d. New York City, New York 1976

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor known for his innovative mobiles with works in many permanent collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art the National Gallery of Art Washington D.C. and the Centre Georges Pompidou. Although primarily known for his sculptures, Calder also created paintings, prints, miniatures, theater set design, jewelry, tapestries and rugs, and political posters. Resonating with the Futurists and Constructivists, as well as the language of early nonobjective painting, Calder’s mobiles (a term coined by Marcel Duchamp in 1931 to describe his work) consist of abstract shapes made of industrial materials––often poetic and gracefully formed and at times boldly colored––that hang in an uncanny, perfect balance. His complex assemblage Cirque Calder (1926–31), which allowed for the artist’s manipulation of its various characters presented before an audience, predated Performance Art by some 40 years. Later in his career, Calder devoted himself to making outdoor monumental sculptures in bolted sheet steel that continue to grace public plazas in cities throughout the world.

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