ALEXANDER CALDER

Early Years

Alexander “Sandy” Calder, was born in 1898 in Lawton, Pennsylvania, to a family of celebrated, if more classically trained artists. Calder initially studied mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, graduating in 1919. This mechanical and mathematical knowledge is reflected in the creative complexity of his seminal works.

It was only years later that Calder pursued an artistic career, enrolling at the Arts Student League in New York in 1923 and working as an illustrator for National Police Gazette. In 1926 he moved to Paris to further his artistic pursuits and would later become friendly with artists such as Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp, Piet Mondrian and the influential Abstraction-Création group.

Calder began by developing a new method of sculpting that involved bending and twisting wire, which enabled him to essentially ‘draw’ three-dimensional figures in space. Initially, these took figurative forms. One of the most beloved early Alexander Calder artworks, Calder’s Circus (1926–1931), which he made in Paris, featured a plethora of items and articulated characters formed from twisted wire and other materials. The kinetic element of this work would inform Alexander Calder’s sculptures in the years to come.

Alexander Calder Artworks

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Public Commissions

Calder’s legacy in the realm of public sculpture spans multiple continents. Alexander Calder sculptures can be found in public spaces ranging from Sydney, Australia, to Carracas in Venezuela and Jerusalem.

Major monumental commissions include .125 (1957), a suspended in Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International), Spirale, made for Maison de l’UNESCO in Paris (1958); El Sol Rojo , installed outside the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City for the 1968 Olympic Games; and the stabile Flamingo (1973), made for the General Services Administration in Chicago.

Website and Instagram

The Calder Foundation website can be found here and the Calder Foundation’s Instagram can be found here.

Courtesy Bailly Gallery