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1898 - 1976 Alexander Calder Art That Moves!
1898 - 1976Alexander Calder
Art That Moves!
Lawnton, PennsylvaniaJuly 22, 1898
Sandy’s father was a sculptor and his mother was a painter. His family traveled the country because his father received many public commissions.
Sandy was encouraged to create, and from the age of 8, he always had his own workshop wherever the family lived.
When Sandy was 11, he made a dog and rocking duck cut from a brass sheet as a Christmas gift for his parents. His aptitude for making things was clear, even at
an early age.
Still, Sandy didn’t set out to become an artist. He graduated college with an engineering degree and worked in many mechanically-oriented jobs.
One morning, while working aboard a ship, Sandy awoke to see a brilliant sunrise and a full moon – each was visible on opposite horizons. It made a lasting impression on him and, shortly thereafter, he decided to become an artist.
New York
Sandy went to art school in New York and, as a side job, was sent to sketch scenes of the circus. The circus would fascinate him for the rest of his life.
The Circus
He even created an entire circus made of miniature sculptures and put on shows for people in Paris and New York: the first glimpse of “performance art!”
Working With Wire
Sandy enjoyed working with wire for his circus and soon began to sculpt portraits of his friends and public figures out of wire.
A New Kind of Sculpture
Word spread about Sandy’s new method of sculpting. By bending and twisting wire, he “drew” 3-dimensional figures in space.
Abstraction
Sandy got to know many artists and visited their studios to see what they were doing. While viewing the works of Piet Mondrian, Sandy said the works “shocked” him toward the idea of total abstraction.
Still working with wire, Sandy created what was later to become known as the “mobile.” Its suspended abstract elements move and
balance in changing harmony with the air currents.
The Mobile
In 1931, Sandy married Louisa James. In 1933, they moved to Connecticut and bought an old farm house where Sandy could set up his art studio.
Sandy started creating two types of sculptures: kinetic (moving) and stabiles (non-moving).
His stabiles were first conceived as small, fragile models. Originally made for his garden, they could be easily bent by a
strong wind. Later, Sandy would apply this concept toward the creation of huge, outdoor structures.
Sandy started to receive many public commissions to create artwork to be displayed in museums and pavilions around the world.
When World War II hit, metal was in short supply. Sandy tried to join the Marines but was rejected. Since he couldn’t
sculpt much in metal he started working in wood.
Materials and money was tight during the war era so Sandy began making smaller sculptures from leftover scraps of wood and metal.
As the country emerged from WWII, Sandy was able to return to large-scale creations. He received many commissions to create sculptures around the world.
Sandy and his sculptures had become famous.
In 1976, Alexander Calder died at the age of 78. His stabiles, kinetic sculptures and new ideas about art are still used today around the world.
Works of Alexander Calder
Moo!
It’s a stampede!
“From the beginning of my abstract work, even when it might not have seemed so, I felt there was no better model for me to choose than the Universe.”
Alexander Calder
1898 - 1976
Our Masterpiece
“Constellation with Two Pins” by Alexander Calder, 1943
NOW YOU DO IT!
Write your name on the paper then flip it over.
Susan Smith
•Using one of the wires, add beads, bits of colored paper, etc., by kinking or twisting the wire around the item.
•Curl the wire around a pencil to make a cork-screw shape, if you like.
•When you are satisfied with how it looks, poke it into the styrofoam block.•Decorate the other two wires in the same way.
•Bring your black sheet (the one with your name on it) and your finished sculpture to a volunteer to be hot-glued together.
•Place leftover supplies back into ziplock bag.
• Return ziplock back to blue plastic bin.
• Take a word search/activity sheet and work QUIETLY so others may finish.
“Space is the breath of art.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
